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THE  5T0RY0F 

A  THEATRE. 


Lyman B  Glover, 


clW! 


2&* 


Before  the   Curtain. 

It  was  my  fortune  to  begin  writing  of  the 
Chicago  theaters  about  the  time  that  Harry 
J.  Powers  was  first  engaged  in  a  minor  capacity 
at  Hooley's.  Thus  when  it  happened,  after,  a 
long  course  of  years,  that  Mr.  Powers,  having 
become  master  where  he  once  served,  invited 
me  to  prepare  an  unpretentious  souvenir  of  this 
historic  house,  it  seemed  an  obligation  of  old 
friendship  and,  therefore,  a  pleasant  duty  to 
comply  with  the  request. 

The  result  is  offered  without  apology,  since 
where  there  is  no  pretense  there  can  be  no 
occasion  for  excuses.  Wishing  to  preserve 
from  oblivion  fugitive  memories  of  this  famous 
theater,  and  signalize  not  merely  its  change  of 
ownership,  but  also  a  complete  reconstruction,  a  souvenir  of 
this  casual  and  informal  nature  was  thought  to  be  appropriate. 
Perhaps  some  flying  threads  and  thrums  have  been  rescued 
and  woven  together  in  such  a  manner  that  they  will  be  avail- 
able, one  of  these  days,  for  some  one  more  apt  and  patient  than 
I  am  in  the  work  of  writing  history.  No  doubt  errors  have 
crept  in,  which  is  not  strange,  since  there  is  no  complete  reposi- 
tory of  facts  relating  to  any  of  the  Chicago  theaters  upon  which 
one  may  draw.  The  chief  dependence  is  and  must  be  upon 
memory,  reinforced  by  such  memoranda  as  have  escaped  the 
envious  tooth  of  time.  Nothing  is  affirmed  or  promised,  there- 
fore, except  a  few  facts  and  sentiments  garnered  to  honor 
a  theater  which  has  earned  an  entirely  unique  reputation.   There 


M1816S7 


is  no  attempt  to  be  literary,  profound,  or  exhaustive.  I 
simply  dwell  casually  upon  the  record  of  dear  old  Uncle  Dick 
Hooley  and  his  achievements  in  this  house,  because  they  are 
worthy  of  attention,  and  for  the  reason  that  they  form  an 
important  chapter  in  the  theatrical  history  of  Chicago.  Now  that 
a  second  chapter  in  this  record  has  been  commenced  by  Mr. 
Hooley' s  successor-in-trust,  Harry  J.  Powers,  it  seems  appro- 
priate to  bring  the  old  and  the  new  together  in  these  pages,  and 
thus  with  a  sentiment  of  tender  regret  for  the  past  that  has 
drifted  away  from  us,  and  of  hope  for  the  future,  which  prom- 
ises so  much,  I  wish  the  manager  and  the  patrons  of  Powers' 
Theater  all  happiness  and  good  fortune. 

L.  B.  G. 


One  Chicago  Theater. 

"The  world's  a  theater,  the  earth    a 
stage 
1^        Which  God  and  Nature  do  with  actors 

!>--         fill." 

— Haywood's  "  Apology  for  Actors." 

A  city  of  two  million  peo- 
ple, flinging  her  banners  to  the 
breeze  that  all  the  world  may- 
be filled  with  envy  and  admira- 
tion, yet  Chicago  became  an 
incorporated  fact,  with  4,179 
souls,  only  sixty-one  years  ago. 
Nature's  solemn,  silent  thea- 
ter, peopled  by  midnight  owls 
and  predatory  wolves  ranged 
away  from  the  sounding  waves 
of  Lake  Michigan,  in  a  broad 
verdant  meadows  and  limitless 
nd  outposts  of  scattering  trees. 
This  was  the  theater  which  God  and  Nature  had  not  then 
filled  with  actors,  but  time  passed  swiftly  in  these  pioneer 
days,  and  half  a  century  ago  the  first  Chicago  theater  became 
a  reality. 

Only  fifty  years,  yet  the  effort  and  achievement  of  that 
period,  brief  in  comparison  with  the  gray  centuries  of  the  past, 
have  stirred  the  wonder  of  all  mankind.  The  good  fairy  of 
progress,  searching  for  new  worlds  to  conquer,  raised  her 
potent   wand   and   a   new  city  sprang  into  existence ;  a  city 


Noo^ 


sweep     of    dismal    swamps 
prairies,    with  their   pickets 


destined  to  be  consumed  by  fire  and  rebuilt  more  splendid 
than  before;  a  city  which  was  to  control  'the  markets  of  the 
world,  establish  the  most  liberal  system  of  parks  and  boulevards 
in  the  universe,  create  a  World's  Exposition  of  undying  glory, 
and  undertake  such  marvels  in  engineering  as  are  involved  in 
the  water  supply,  drainage  and  transportation  problems,  which 
have  been  so  well  solved. 

It  would  be  strange  if  the  stage  had  not  kept  pace  with  these 
matchless  impulses  of  Western   civilization.      Touching  more 

lives    in    a    recreative 
than 


way  tnan  any  other 
institution,  its  early 
growth  was  identified 
with  the  struggles  of 
the  city,  and  it  has 
borne  an  honorable 
part  in  all  these  tre- 
mendous efforts  by 
relieving  the  mental 
pressure,  smoothing 
down  the  rough  edges 
of  care,  and  tutoring 
this  people — the  world 
forgetting  and  by  the 
world  forgot — to  pre- 
pare, by  mental  relax- 
ation, for  the  duties  of 
to-morrow. 

This  is  the  primary 
mission  of  the  theater, 
and  this  duty  it  has 
performed,  if  not  with 
unwavering  fidelity  to 
high  standards,  at  least  with  such 
sincere  regard  for  artistic  models  as 


the    existing  state  of    public  taste 


O^ice:. 


would  permit.  If  a  stream  cannot  rise  above  its  fountain- 
head,  neither  can  any  enterprise,  depending  upon  public  favor, 
maintain  a  standard  far  superior  to  the  taste  of  its  patrons,  with- 
out courting  bankruptcy. 

But  we  may  throw  philosophy,  along  with  physic,  to  the 
dogs.  It  is  of  a  theater  with  no  apologies  to  offer  that  this 
brief  abstract  and  chronicle  has  to  do.  Although  caviare  to  the 
general,  a  thing  quite  apart  from  the  common  gossip  of  the 
world,  the  record  of  a  representative  theater  is  a  cherished 
memory  to  those  who  have  lived  within  the  circle  of  its  influ- 
ence. Out  of  that  baptism  of  fire  in  I  871,  at  which  all  the 
world  wondered,  came  Hooley's,  now  Powers'  Theater,  and 
thereby  hangs  a  tale  which  may  be  briefly  unfolded  to  refresh 
the  memory  of  the  present  generation,  and  perchance  inform 
those  who  come  after,  of  a  theatrical  record  approached  in  kind 
by  no  other  American  theater,  and  in  general  by  Daly's  Theater 
alone  of  all  the  other  play-houses  in  the  United  States. 

Into  this  inheritance  of  accrued  honor  and  glory  comes 
Powers'  Theater,  the  successor  in  trust  of  all  the  splendid  asso- 
ciations connected  with  this  historic  house  which  has  changed 
its  name,  but  not  its  nature,  and  continues  with  all  the  rights, 
hereditaments  and  attractions  that  have  so  long  made  the  Ran- 
dolph Street  Theater  the  Mecca  of  polite  and  discriminating 
play-goers.      With  fair  Juliet  we  may  exclaim: 

"  What's  in  a  name  ?     That  which  we  call  a  rose 
By  any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet." 

And  so  with  kindly  words  of  farewell  for  the  old  name  that 
hung  bravely  over  these  doors  throughout  so  many  years  of  sun- 
shine and  storm,  a  title  which  under  the  changed  conditions  of 
ownership  could  not  be  retained,  we  glance  over  the  busy  history 
of  those  twenty-six  years  as  a  prelude  to  such  words  as  may  be 
said  of  the  new  regime  and  a  reconstructed  and  modernized 
theater.  It  is  not  the  name  we  must  remember,  but  the  attrac- 
tion that  fixes  the  status  of  a  playhouse,  and  when  the  attrac- 
tions continue  unchanged,  and  the  same  firm  and  experienced 

7 


hand  that  has  actively  guided  the  affairs  of  the  house  for  so 
long  still  controls  its  destinies,  the  regret  occasioned  by  the 
enforced  disappearance  of  the  familiar  title  vanishes  in  the 
generous  and  well-founded  belief  that  all  Hooley's  Theater  has 
been  Powers'  Theater  will  continue  to  be. 


E"~  it, 


The  First  Hoolev  Theater. 


The  blistering  flames  of  the  great  fire  of  1871  left  many 
wrecks  behind.  To  Richard  M.  Hooley  this  catastrophe  was 
the  enforced  beginning  of  a  new  career.  In  a  few  hours  the 
earnings  of  a  life-time  were  swept  away,  and  the  alert,  suc- 
cessful manager  who  had  ever  conquered  his  world  was  obliged 


again  to  face  the  struggle  which 
he  had  just  given  over  in  the 
hope  of  retirement  and  ease.  A 
successful  manager  in  Brooklyn 
and  throughout  the  country 
where  his  minstrels  were  well 
known,  Mr.  Hooley  determined 
in  1870  to  locate  in  Chicago. 
Possessing  ample  credit  and  cap- 
ital, he  secured  possession  of 
Bryan  Hall,  at  89  Clark  street, 
where  the  Grand  Opera  House 
is  now  located,  and  constructed 
a  handsome  theater,  to  which 
he  gave  the  name  of  Hooley' s 
Opera  House.  Next  to  Cros- 
by's Opera  House  and  Mc- 
Vicker's,  it  was  by  far  the 
handsomest  theater  in  the  city 
at  that  time,  and  the  news- 
papers of  the  day,  still  preserved 
in  dark  vaults,  bear  silent  but 
eloquent  testimony  to  its  beauty 
and  elegance.  It  was  on  Monday  evening,  January  2,  1871, 
that  this  new  temple  of  dramatic  art  was  thrown  open  to 
the  public  with  an  entertainment  provided  by  Hooley' s  famous 
Minstrels,  who  were  spurred  to  their  most  humorous  and 
melodious  endeavors  by  the  fact  that  Manning's  Minstrels 
were  also  disporting  themselves  before  a  great  audience  at  the 
Dearborn  Theater,  only  two  blocks  away.  At  Crosby's 
Opera  House  "The  Twelve  Temptations"  held  out  their 
glittering  lure,  and  at  McVicker's  J.  K.  Emmet  played  "  Our 
German  Cousin"  on  the  night  that  Hooley' s  Opera  House 
was  dedicated,  while  in  the  forbidding  gloom  of  old  Farwell 
Hall  the  silvery  eloquence  of  Wendell  Phillips  inspired  another 
great  congregation. 


*I~Hr  SPIRAL  — 

— :  £tair  Casc 


*mm 


Of  Mr.  Hooky* s  first  appearance  on  this  occasion,  as  a 
local  manager,  one  kindly  disposed  critic  exhausted  the  entire 
list  of  adjectives  in  describing  the  beauty  of  the  house,  the 
excellence  of  the  entertainment,  the  wisdom  of  the  manager, 
and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  audience. 

Thus  auspiciously  inaugurated,  Hooley's  Opera  House  con- 
tinued joyously  to  the  tunes  of  minstrelsy  and  burlesque,  with 
an  occasional  dramatic  interlude,  until  the  summer  vacation, 
when  Frank  E.  Aiken  became  associated  with  the  management, 
Hooley's  first  dramatic  stock  company  was  organized,  with 
twenty-five  people,  many  of  whom  were  well-known  actors  of 
that  day.  It  included,  in  addition  to  Mr.  Aiken,  Messrs.  J. 
H.  Fitzpatrick,  Frank  Lawler,  M.  C.  Daly,  J.  C.  Padgett, 
J.  C.  Morrison,  S.  L.  Knapp,  Jarvis  Vincent,  George  Arthur 
and  David  Osborne,  while  among  the  ladies  were  Augusta 
Dargon,  Fanny  Burt,  Lizzie  Herbert,  Annie  Campion,  Isabel 
Remick,  Mrs.  Daly,  Lizzie  Osborne  and  Annie  Rogers.  "  The 
Hunchback ' '  was  selected  for  the  first  performance,  which 
marked  the  evening  of  August  28,  1871. 

It  is  not  necessary  or  possible  in  this  casual  record  of  Mr. 
Hooley's  beginnings  in  Chicago  to  follow  the  fortunes  at  this 
house  during  the  four  weeks  prior  to  its  destruction  by  the  great 
fire.  The  stock  company  filled  in  most  of  the  time  acceptably 
with  such  plays  as  "The  Two  Buzzards,"  "The  Serious 
Family,"  "  Camille,"  and  the  "Long  Strike,"  with  one 
interruption  by  the  Oates  opera  company,  and  then  the  day  of 
doom  arrived.  On  Sunday  night,  October  8,  Mrs.  Lander 
commenced  an  engagement,  playing  "  Elizabeth,  Queen  of 
England,"  but  the  next  day  Hooley's  Opera  House  was  in 
ashes,  reduced  from  its  former  estate  by  the  furious  blast  of 
flame  that  swept  that  earlier  Chicago  out  of  existence. 


13 


Out  of  the  Flames. 


It  is  only  to  discern  and  appreciate  the  historical  associa- 
tions and  the  splendid  inheritance  of  many  glittering  and 
brilliant  years  upon  which  Mr.  Powers  is  to  erect  a  new  super- 
structure of  success,  that  we  glance  hastily  and  with  no  thought 
of  minor  details  at  the  influences  leading  up  to  the  establishment 
of  the  now  famous  house  which  he  controls.  Its  pedigree 
which  no  one  doubts,  and  all  the  professional  world,  as  well  as 
that  closely  knit  world  of  society  is  quick  to  recognize,  is  bound 
up  and  determined  in  and  by  those  happenings  in  the  past,  as 
it  is  assured  for  the  future  by  the  careful  and  experienced  hand 
now  at  the  helm.  Woven  into  the  warp 
and  woof  of  Chicago  history  is  the  record 
of  this  theater,  and  as  the  weaving  goes 
steadily  forward  forming  a  continuous 
fabric,  we  could  not  if  we  would  separate 
the  present  from  the  past  or  unduly 
dismember  those  historical  associations  so 
firmly  knit  together.  The  story  of  a 
theater  is  not  the  record  of  one  man.  It 
cannot  be  given  arbitrary  metes  and 
bounds,  but  must  be  accepted  as  a  whole, 
and  thus  before  we  may  glance  at  Power's 
Theater  of  to-day,  with  all  of  its  remark- 
able possibilities,  it  is  necessary,  and  may 
prove  interesting  to  casuist  and  philoso- 
pher alike,  to  dwell  briefly  in  the  past 
and  gather  up  those  flying  and  scattered 
reminiscences  that  have  thus  far  escaped 


i5 


the  historian.  The  dead  past  may  bury  its  dead,  but  the 
record  remains.  Thus  we  glance  back  at  the  beginnings  of 
Hooley's  Theater  not  merely  to  glorify  the  past  but  to  pre- 
serve the  traditions  and  discover  in  what 
manner  the  foundations  of  the  house  were 
laid. 

When  the  flames  destroyed  Hooley's 
Opera  House,  that  spectacular  event,  a  re- 
flection of  which  was  seen  around  the  world, 
made  radical  change  in  many  plans,  among 
the  number  those  that  had  just  been  per- 
fected by  Mr.  Hooley.  Having  gained  a 
fortune  by  his  various  enterprises  in  the  field 
of  amusement,  he  determined  to  retire  and 
take  up  his  residence  in  the  East.  With 
this  purpose  in  view  he  had  disposed  of 
his  interest  in  Hooley's  Opera  House,  and 
when  the  historic  fire  broke  out  was  waiting 
at  the  Briggs  House  with  his  personal 
effects  and  impedimenta  ready  for  a  trip 
to  the  seaboard.  Much  of  his  fortune  was 
invested  in  Chicago,  and  when  the  smoke 
of  that  awful  conflagration  cleared  away 
he  discovered,  in  common  with  thousands 
of  other  unfortunates,  that  his  assets  had 
melted  in  the  blow-pipe  of  that  terrible  heat, 
and  thus  it  became  necessary  to  begin  the 
conflict  over  again.  There  was  no  further 
thought  of  a  life  of  ease,  but  with  that  energy  and  determina- 
tion always  characterizing  his  career  Mr.  Hooley  at  once  set 
about  finding  a  suitable  location  for  a  new  theater.  By  some 
favoring  chance  he  hit  upon  the  Randolph  street  site,  which 
was  thus  established  as  the  permanent  locale  of  a  theater  des- 
tined to  become  famous.  Work  was  commenced  without 
undue  delay,  and  despite  exorbitant  prices  incident  to  a 
time    when    the    whole  city    was    rebuilding    and  the    delays 

16 


^<Z0LsW&L&ju- 


peculiar  to  such  an  excited  and  unusual  condition,  within  little 
more  than  a  year  the  new  theater  was  ready  for  occupancy. 
It  was  on  the  evening  of  October  21,  1872,  that  the  lights 
were  turned  on  for  the  first  time  within  the  very  walls  that 
remain  to  this  day,  walls  which  for  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century  have  resounded  to  the  voices  of  nearly  all  the  great 
artists  of  the  period  and  have  contained,  times  innumerable,  the 
wealth,  fashion  and  intellect  of  Chicago. 

The  Abbot— Kiralfy  troupe  provided  the  entertainment  on 
that  opening  night  with  a  diverting,  but  not  too  artistic  panto- 
mime, entitled  "The  Three  Hunchbacks,"  and  a  crowded 
audience  showered  congratulations  so  thick  upon  Manager 
Hooley  that  the  opening  incidents  were  justly  regarded  as 
omens  of  success.  The  theater  was  dedicated  on  this  occasion 
under  the  old  familiar  name  of  Hooley 's  Opera  House,  which 
had  done  duty  before  the  fire  at  the  Clark  street  location,  and 
it  was  not  until  several  years  later  that  the  qualifying  and  per- 
haps, misleading  phrase  was  dropped  and  Hooley' s  Theater  was 
fixed  upon  as  the  title  destined  to  stand  with  but  a  slight  inter- 
ruption for  almost  twenty-five  years.  Prior  to  that  change  Mr. 
Hooley  adopted  "The  Parlor  Home  of  Comedy* '  as  a  sub- 
title, this  being  his  fancy  on  introducing  his  great  stock  com- 
pany which  first  appeared  Monday  evening,  August  31,  1874. 
Previous  to  that  date  the  house  had  been  devoted  to  minstrelsy 
and  to  such  miscellaneous  attractions  as  could  be  secured  ;  but 
results  were  not  satisfactory,  and  Mr.  Hooley,  crippled  by  the 
fire,  found  his  financial  condition  growing  desperate.  It  was 
then  that  the  project  of  a  dramatic  stock  company  appealed  to 
him,  and  since  the  company  he  formed  was  the  strongest  stock 
organization  Chicago  has  ever  boasted,  this  event  should  be 
embalmed  in  memory  by  more  than  the  tribute  of  a  passing 
word.  It  is  impossible  within  the  brief  limits  assigned  this 
casual  and  discursive  sketch — which  is  intended  to  indicate  in 
general  rather  than  set  forth  in  detail  the  history  of  Hooley's 
Theater — to  describe  all  that  this  company  did  or  tried  to  do.  A 
most  worthy  undertaking  managed  with  exceptional  liberality, 

18 


19 


its  maintenance  was  one  of  the  most  artistic  and  creditable 
incidents  in  the  career  of  Richard  M.  Hooley.  Composed  of 
thirty  actors,  the  company  included  a  number  of  artists  who 
stood  high  in  the  ranks  at  that  time  and  have  since  become 
famous.  James  O'Neill,  who  had  made  himself  known  as 
a  member  of  McVicker's  Stock  Company,  was  leading  man. 
William  H.  Crane,  then  a  recent  graduate  from  opera  boufFe, 
as  represented  by  the  Alice  Oates  Company,  was  engaged  as 
low  comedian,  and  his  connection  with  Hooley's  was  the 
foundation  stone  of  legitimate  experience  upon  which  his  bril- 
liant success  of  the  future  was  established.  Nate  Salsbury,  who 
subsequently  gained  fame  and  fortune  in  connection  with  Sals- 
bury' s  Troubadours,  and  then  as  the  directing  influence  of 
Buffalo  Bill's  Wild  West,  was  the  eccentric  or  character  come- 
dian of  this  company  and  Miss  Louise  Hawthorne,  who  had  made 
a  name  with  Lawrence  Barrett,  was  the  leading  lady.      Other 

notables  were  Clara  Fischer 
Maeder,  famed  for  her  "old 
woman ' '  characterizations  ; 
Mrs.  Fred  Williams,  a  sou- 
brette  and  comedienne  of  im- 
mense popularity ;  Henry  S. 
Murdock,  light  comedian; 
George  Ryer,  a  sterling  actor 
of  old  men  characters  ;  Miss 
Nellie  Bellew,  and  a  score 
of  others  who  gave  a  good 
account  of  themselves  at  the 
time,  although  most  of  them 
long  since  disappeared  from 
the  stage. 

The  opening  play  selected 
for  this  new  company  was 
Dion  Boucicault's  "  Led 
Astray,"  and  this  was  fol- 
lowed    by     other     revivals, 


p-oVed 


some  of  them  Shakespearean,  all  put  on  in  a  highly  creditable 
manner.  Growing  out  of  an  experimental  stock  company  which 
had  played  at  this  house  on  the  preceding  year,  and  includ- 
ing such  admirable  artists  as  J.  W.  Blaisdell,  Russell  Soggs, 
John  Dillon,  George  Giddens,  Kate  Meek  and  Mrs.  Maeder, 
the  company  of  1874  was  believed  to  be  a  permanent  develop- 
ment in  artistic  growth,  certain  to  parallel  in  Chicago  the 
brilliant  reputation  of  Wallack's  company  in  New  York.  But 
this  anticipation  was  not  realized.  There  were  many  clever 
performances,  but  the  enterprise  did  not  grow,  and  Mr.  Hooley 
discovered  that  his  affairs  were  taking  on  a  most  gloomy  hue. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  events  that  followed 
in  1875,  when  from  October  of  that  year  until  January,  1877, 
Mr.  Hooley  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  theater  to  Simon 
Quinlin,  who  in  turn  rented  it  to  Thomas  Maguire  of  Cali- 
fornia. J.  H.  Haverly  became  associated  with  Maguire  dur- 
ing this  period,  and  it  was  then  that  the  theater  was  known 
as  Haverly' s  Theater,  the  old  familiar  name  of  Hooley  disap- 
pearing from  the  door. 

It  is  best  not  to  detail  the  bitter  litigation  that  ensued  or  to 
describe  the  steps  whereby  Mr.  Hooley  was  enabled  to  regain 
control  of  the  theater,  but  it  may  be  recalled  as  an  incident  of 
the  times  that  while  shut  out,  as  he  believed,  unjustly  from  the 
house  he  had  built,  Mr.  Hooley  leased  for  a  while  the  New 
Chicago  Theater  (now  known  as  the  Olympic)  which  was  then 
controlled  by  J.  H.  McVicker.  That  manager  had  fitted  up 
this  theater  at  great  expense  on  the  former  site  of  Kingsbury 
Hall  for  the  purpose  of  competing  with  Hooley' s  Parlor  Home 
of  Comedy,  but  there  did  not  seem  to  be  adequate  patron- 
age for  such  an  undertaking,  and  thus  it  happened  that  when 
Mr.  Hooley' s  enterprise  also  went  astray  and  his  theater  was 
possessed  by  another,  The  New  Chicago  stood  ready  for  his 
occupancy,  although  truth  compels  the  admission  that  he  did  not 
prosper  in  this  new  and  temporary  location.  In  order  to  com- 
plete and  round  out  this  story  of  disaster  it  may  be  mentioned 
that  Mr.  Haverly  testified  in  court  to  losing  more  than  $7,000 


during  the  fifteen  months  that  his  name  hung  suspended  over 
Hooky' s  Randolph  street  theater. 

But  the  whirligig  of  time  brings  compensations  now  and 
then  to  those  who  are  patient  enough  to  wait,  and  the  fall  of 
1877  once  more  found  Mr.  Hooley  in  possession  of  the  theater 
which  was  destined  to  bear  his  name  for  so  long  a  period.    For- 


tune  had  trifled  with  him  in  a  most  vexatious  manner  for  a 
time,  but  won,  perhaps  by  his  persistence,  she  now  commenced 
to  smile.  It  is  a  pleasing  coincidence  that  Harry  J.  Powers, 
who  now  succeeds  to  the  honors,  responsibilities  and  emolu- 
ments of  this  famous  theater,  became  connected  with  this  house, 
though  in  an  extremely  modest  capacity,  during  this  eventful 
year  which  marked  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  of  prosperity 
for  Mr.  Hooley' s  management.      It  is  naturally  an  agreeable 

24 


w^ — -» 


recollection  for  him  that,  having  served  continuously  ever  since, 
he  has  been  connected  with  the  theater  during  its  entire  period 
of  success,  and  therefore  falls  heir  legitimately  and  by  virtue  of 
long  and  faithful  service  to  a  management  every  detail  of  which 
he  has  fully  mastered  in  the  school  of  experience.  His  own 
modesty  rebels  even  at  this  slight  recognition  of  an  untiring 
fidelity  to  the  interests  of  his  employer,  but  no  sketch  of 
Hooley's  Theater,  however  brief,  would  be  even  measurably 
complete  that  failed  to  recognize  his  long  and  influential  asso- 
ciation with  the  theater  of  which  he  has  now  become  the  sole 
manager.  During  the  early  years  of  his  connection  with 
Hooley's  Theater  he  occupied  in  turn  all  of  the  subordinate 
positions  incident  to  theatrical  management,  contributing  to 
each  such  energy  and  devotion  that  he  made  rapid  progress, 
earning  every  promotion,  until  at  last,  more  than  a  decade  ago, 
he  was  installed  as  Mr.  Hooley's  chief  adviser  and  assistant. 
This  honorable  position  he  held  to  the  unwavering  satisfaction  of 
his  chief  up  to  the  time  of  Mr.  Hooley's  death,  and  thereafter 
managed  the  theater  in  the  interest  of  the  estate  with  such  skill 
and  ability  that  the  profits  of  the  house  reached  a  figure  even 
greater  than  had  ever  been  realized  during  the  life  of  its  founder. 
It  is  not  strange  therefore  that  when  a  new  lease  of  the  building 
was  to  be  negotiated  the  owners  preferred  him  to  all  other 
applicants,  nor  is  it  an  occasion  for  wonder  that  when  estopped 
from  the  use  of  Mr.  Hooley's  name  by  burdensome  and  impos- 
sible conditions  to  which  no  prudent  business  man  could  accede, 
he  listened  to  the  advice  of  friends  and  associates  and  rechristened 
the  house  "Powers'  Theater."  This  selection  of  a  name, 
though  reluctantly  made  in  consequence  of  the  belief  that  some 
would  think  it  dictated  by  egotism,  or  that  it  might  seem  to 
indicate  but  slight  respect  for  the  memory  of  his  old  employer 
and  friend,  was  justified  by  the  necessity  which  compelled  the 
selection  of  a  new  name,  and  also  by  a  legitimate  business 
consideration.  It  was  reasonable  to  identify  an  important 
enterprise,  give  it  stability,  and  confirm  it  in  the  confidence  of 
the  public,   by   affixing   to  it  the  responsible  name  of  a  man 

26 


who  had  been  associated  with  its  up-building  for  a  double 
decade.  In  no  other  business  does  personal  confidence  stand 
for  more  than  in  theatrical  management.  It  is  hard-earned,  but 
when  once  secured  is  an  element  of  success,  the  value  of  which 
cannot  be  overestimated.  Wallack,  Palmer,  Daly,  McVicker, 
Hooley,  the  Frohmans,  and  others,  have  illustrated  this  self- 
evident  fact;  and,  governed  by  this  same  philosophy,  the  advisers 
of  Mr.  Powers  fell  into  no  error  when  they  insisted  that  the 
confidence  inspired  by  Mr.  Powers'  name  should  be  crystallized 
and  made  effective  by  placing  it  upon  the  theatrical  structure 
which  he  had  done  so  much  to  build  up  and  sustain. 


27 


Some  Great  Events. 

IT  is  impossible  within  the  narrow  limits  assigned  to  this 
monograph  to  dwell  at  length  in  the  past  or  recall  many 
of  those  brilliant  and  interesting  occurrences  that  belong 
to  the  extraordinary  record  of  this  theater.  Since  1877, 
the  year  of  the  new  beginning,  nearly  all  of  the  great  artists  of 
the  present  generation  have  appeared  on  this  stage,  adding  each 
his  page  to  a  history  which  is  not  equalled  in  consecutive  impor- 
tance by  that  of  many  other  American  theaters.  Opera,  com- 
edy, tragedy,  burlesque,  farce  comedy,  indeed  all  the  classifica- 
tions of  stage  art  so  deftly  enumerated  by  the  ancient  Polonius, 
have  followed  each  other  in  ceaseless  procession  behind  these 
glowing  footlights.  Nilsson  in  the  hey-day  of  youth  and 
beauty,  Clara  Louise  Kellogg,  the  brilliant  cantatrice  of  the  early 
'  70's,  Cary,  the  greatest  of  American  contraltos,  Pappenheim, 
and  a  host  of  other  operatic  stars  displayed  their  vocal  glories 
in  this  theater,  there  being  no  opera-house  available  for  many 
years  after  the  destruction  of  Crosby's.  And  then  how  many 
other  familiar  names  are  inscribed  upon  that  lengthening  roll  of 
fame.  Aimee,  Janauschek,  Alice  Oates,  the  elder  Sothern  and 
Mme.  Modjeska  were  numbered  among  the  leading  attractions 
of  1878,  and  Fanny  Davenport  made  her  first  Chicago  appear- 
ance as  a  star  during  that  same  notable  year,  which  was  also 
marked  by  a  run  of  nine  weeks  for  A.  M.  Palmer's  famous  Union 
Square  Company,  an  incident  that  quite  puts  to  blush  the  cur- 
rent belief  that  Chicago  has  but  recently  graduated  into  the  dis- 
tinction of  long  runs.  Indeed  the  early  record  of  Hooley's 
Theater  discloses  not  a  few  evidences  that  a  popular  success 
was  quite  as  welcome  to  prolong  its  stay  as  it  is  in  these  metro- 

28 


TAiilliom  GflldC 


©mn 


29 


politan  days.  Augustin  Daly,  with  a  repertory,  the  Kirallys, 
with  "Michael  Strogoff,',  McKee  Rankin,  with  the  "Dan- 
ites,"  and  Wyndham  in  a  repertory  are  each  credited  with 
four  weeks  in  the  early  '8o's,  and  on  a  succeeding  visit 
Mr.  Daly  was  obliged  to  remain  five  weeks.  It  was  on  July 
6,  1884,  that  Henry  E.  Dixey  commenced  at  this  theater, 
that  engagement  of  six  weeks  in  '* Adonis'*  which  was  the 
corner-stone  of  a  phenomenal  success  that  yielded  a  great 
fortune  and  set  the  fashion  for  a  new  style  of  entertainment. 
Aside  from  those  already  stated  the  longest  runs  in  the  history 
of  the  house  may  be  briefly 
summarized : 

May    30,      1885,       Rice's 
"Evangeline,"  1  2  weeks. 

July  4,  1 89 1,  "The  County 
Fair,"  9  weeks. 

October,  1891,  E.  S.  Wil- 
lard,  4  weeks. 

June,  1893,  E.  S.  Willard, 
9  weeks. 

October,      1893,    Coquelin 
and  Hading,   4  weeks. 

December,  1893,  the  Ken- 
dais,  4  weeks. 

May,     1894,     "Charley's 
Aunt,"  15  weeks. 

July  6,  1895,  "Trilby,"  8 
weeks. 

December  9,    1895,  "Pris- 
oner of  Zenda,"  5  weeks. 

May  23,  1896,  "Gay  Par- 
isiennes,"  13  weeks. 

October  2,    1897,  "Secret 
Service,"  6  weeks. 

Engagements   ranging    from 
two   to   four  weeks  have  been 


30 


pROSCfclin//") 


very  numerous,  but  not  many,  as  may  be  observed,  exceed  that 
limit.  It  is  interesting,  however,  to  recall  the  fact,  certified 
by  the  official  figures,  that  Mr.  Willard  holds  the  honorable 
record  of  playing  more  weeks  during  one  twelvemonth  than  any 
other  star  who  ever  appeared  in  this  theater.  Between  December, 
1892,  and  September,  1893,  he  played  during  a  total  of  sixteen 
weeks,  with  exceptionally  remunerative  results,  a  record  which 
he  may  reasonably  contemplate  with  pride.  In  contrast  with  this 
splendid  success  was  the  surprising  failure  made  by  Coquelin 
and  Hading,  who  earned  the  unenviable  distinction  of  creating 
almost  the  worst  record  for  four  weeks  in  the  history  of  the'1 
theater  by  scoring  a  net  loss  in  the  midst  of  the  World's  Fair 
year  when  the  city  was  full  of  foreigners.  Mme.  Duse  also 
played  for  three  weeks  at  a  loss,  and  thus  seven  weeks  of  the 
World's  Fair  period  were  lost  to  Hooley's  Theater,  although 
the  great  business  stimulated  by  Willard,  Goodwin,  Daly  and 
others,  enabled  the  management  to  score  one  of  the  most  pros- 
perous years  in  the  history  of  the  theater. 

It  would  be  interesting,  were  it  possible  without  invading 
professional  secrets,  to  indicate,  with  the  aid  of  figures,  some  of 
the  most  profitable  engagements  ever  played  at  Hooley's  ;  but 
at  least  there  can  be  no  harm  in  recalling  the  success  always 
achieved  by  such  attractions  as  J.  K.  Emmett,  Joseph  Murphy, 
Robson  and  Crane,  "Bunch  of  Keys,"  "Parlor  Match," 
Goodwin  and  the  Daly  Company,  the  profit  to  the  theater 
ranging  many  times  above  $3,500  for  a  single  week  in  some 
of  these  and  other  engagements.  The  first  and  second  engage- 
ments of  the  Kendals,  1889  and  1891,  were  among  the  largest 
in  point  of  receipts  ever  played  at  this  theater,  and  Augustin 
Daly  in  1892  and  the  Kendals  in  1891  broke  the  record  for 
the  largest  single  week  receipts  in  the  history  of  this  house. 
But  it  remained  for  William  Gillette  with  "Secret  Service"  to 
surpass  every  other  average  for  a  six  weeks'  term  this  theater  can 
exhibit,  although  some  others  press  him  close.  To  Mr.  Good- 
win, who  has  played  here  for  so  many  years,  belongs  the  credit 
of  earning  more  profit  for  Hooley's  than  any  one  star,  although 


there  is  a  contrasting  fact  in  the  statement  that  the  profit  for 
one  week  of  his  playing  ten  years  ago  reached  only  $4.74,  a 
record  surpassed  in  the  days  of  his  early  starhood  by  E.  H. 
Sothern,  who  saved  the  theater  from  loss  on  the  week  by  the 
narrow  margin  of  79  cents.  But  since  that  time  Mr.  Good- 
win and  Mr.  Sothern  have  been  enormously  successful  at  this 
house,  while  Mr.  Willard,  the  Daly  Company,  the  Kendals, 
the  Lyceum  and  Empire  Companies  have  been  among  the 
standard  attractions  giving  to  Hooley's,  with  the  aid  of  such 
artists  as  Mme.  Modjeska,  Olga  Nethersole,  John  Drew,  Wil- 
liam H.  Crane,  Sol  Smith  Russell,  Julia  Arthur  and  others, 
the  high  distinction  which  it  has  more  particularly  enjoyed 
within  recent  years.  This  year  the  name  of  Joseph  Jefferson, 
that  noblest  Roman  of  all  those  in  the  comedy  field,  must  be 
added  to  this  roll  of 
honor.  JJ  | 

Nor  shall  we  for- 
get while  speaking  of 
the  more  recent  his- 
tory of  this  famous 
house  of  dramatic  art 
that  Charles  Wynd- 
ham  and  Wilson  Bar- 
rett have  graced  its 
boards — that  Rosina 
Vokes,  whose  infinite 
charm  none  could  re- 
sist, well  nigh  said 
her  last  farewell  to 
the  theater  on  this 
stage,  that  Mansfield, 
who  has  gained  the 
highest  round  on  the 
ladder  of  dramatic 
fame,  has  electrified 
these    audiences,    that 

32 


Mary  Anderson,  who  all  too  soon  wearied  of  her  task,  is  also  a 
memory  of  this  famed  house  which  is  just  now  full  of  honors, 
and  facing  even  brighter  glories  in  the  future. 

Scarcely  any,  indeed,  who  have  been  known  to  the  pres- 
ent generation  as  stars  or  artists  above  the  common  herd 
have  been  strangers  to  this  house,  which  more  than  any  other 
single  theater  has  commanded  the  services  of  all  sorts  and  con- 
ditions of  good  actors. 


33 


Powers'  New  Theater. 


Hooley's  Theater  that  was,  Powers'  Theater  that  is,  has 
been  the  scene  of  a  glorious  transformation  during  a  happy 
summertime  when  all  the  world  was  a-maying.  No  sooner 
did  the  curtain  fall  for  the  last  time  behind  the  old  proscenium, 
shutting  out  from  view  Mr.  Daly's  "Circus  Girl,"  than  rude 


34 


workmen  armed  with  pick  and  shovel  invaded  the  sacred  domain 
where  society  had  so  often  exhibited  its  frills  and  furbelows. 
The  lobby  was  cleared  away  to  the  bare  walls.  The  foyer 
and  all  its  belongings  fell  an  early  prey  to  the  spirit  of  change, 
which  also  uprooted  the  boxes,  threw  out  the  opera  chairs  that 
had  done  service  so  long,  and  did  not  stay  its  hand  until  all  the 
old  furnishings  and  fitments  were  relegated  to  the  dust  heap  or 
delivered  over  to  the  junk  man.  For  the  decree  had  gone 
forth,  signed,  sealed  and  delivered  by  authority  of  the  new 
manager,  that  the  theater  should  become  not  one  of  the  most 
popular,  for  that  was  already  assured,  but  a  house  complete  in 
all  of  those  features  wherein  the  comfort  or  convenience  of 
the  public  might  be  involved.  The  original  conformation  of 
the  house,  hedged  in  by  metes  and  bounds  that  could  not  be 
changed,  was  alone  to  remain  encompassed  by  the  familiar 
walls,  and  designated  to  the  passer-by  through  the  narrow  but 
expressive  facade  that  had  stood  sentinel  on  Randolph  street  for 
quarter  of  a  century.  But  the  plain  furnishments,  the  incon- 
venience in  seating  and  exit,  the  inartistic  boxes  were  all  evils 
to  be  remedied.  The  dictates  of  modern  taste  and  conveni- 
ence were  to  oppose  arrangements  created  when  the  city  was 
young,  and  in  place  of  narrow  and  dangerous  passageways, 
always  instantly  congested  when  the  audience  was  dismissed, 
there  were  to  be  new  channels  for  exit  through  which  the 
currents  of  humanity,  finding  their  source  in  various  portions  of 
the  house,  might  flow  out  in  safety. 

Controlling  as  he  does  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  best 
attractions  and  most  popular  stars  coming  to  Chicago,  and 
therefore  enjoying  the  patronage  and  favor  of  the  most  exacting 
people  in  this  city  and  parts  adjacent,  Mr.  Powers  was  moved 
by  the  belief  that  the  best  equipment  was  none  too  good  for 
the  historic  theater  which  he  controlled  or  for  the  people  who 
honored  him  with  their  confidence.  Having  answered  the 
purposes  of  a  less  exacting  period,  it  seemed  fitting  that  the 
time-scarred  belongings  of  the  old  theater  should  give  place  to 
new  furnishings,  and  such  a  re-arrangement  as  would  insure  the 

35 


"fyt&K^US 


greatest  percentage  of  comfort,  conven- 
ience and  security.  This  was  the  purpose 
kept  steadily  in  view  when  the  new  plans 
were  perfected.  Utile  cum  dulce  was 
the  motto  adopted  at  the  outset  and  until 
the  final  touch  was  given  the  useful  and 
the  beautiful  commanded  the  unwavering 
attention  of  all  to  whom  the  work  was 
committed.  The  proposition  was  estab- 
lished before  the  old  familiar  equipment 
was  torn  away  that  the  improvements 
were  to  be  radical  and  not  a  cheap  veneer, 
a  mere  replica  of  the  whited  sepulcher 
covering  rottenness  and  decay.  Calci- 
mine found  no  favor  in  the  managerial 
mind,  and  although  the  estimates  for  a 
practical  reconstruction  of  the  interior 
mounted  up  into  the  thousands,  compre- 
hending as  they  did  every  item  that 
would  add  to  the  comfort  and  safety 
of  an  audience,  there  was  no  faltering. 
Having  put  his  hand  to  the  plow,  the 
manager  did  not  turn  back,  but  boldly 
gave  the  contractors  carte  blanche  to 
transform  Powers'  Theater  into  a  model 
auditorium  from  which  nothing  belonging 
to  a  first-class  theater  should  be  omitted. 
How  well  these  instructions  were  carried  out  will  be  dis- 
covered by  a  hurried,  and  not  too  technical,  description  of  the 
work  that  has  been  done. 

It  would  be  a  short  and  easy  task  to  describe  that  which 
falls  under  the  eye  of  an  audience — the  decorations,  upholstery 
and  all — and  single  those  color  schemes  and  details  of  orna- 
mentation and  furnishing  which  speak  for  themselves  with 
more  eloquence  than  any  form  of  words  can  command.  A  few 
appreciative  lines  deftly  pointed  at  the   salient  features  in  the 

36 


37 


ornamental  work,  or  taking  note  of  the  symphony  of  artistic 
effect  composed  by  good  taste  and  fine  workmanship  would  be 
sufficient.  But  in  the  making  of  a  model  theater  a  thousand 
elements  combine  with  which  the  average  theater  attendant  is 
quite  unfamiliar.  The  lobby,  foyer,  orchestra  and  the  sweep  of 
the  proscenium  constitute  the  illustrations  in  an  open  book 
which  he  can  scan  at  will,  but  the  region  behind  the  footlights 
is  a  terra  incognita.  He  knows  little  or  nothing  of  its  mys- 
teries, even  though  it  may  have  been  his  good  fortune  now  and 
then  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  its  gloomy  recesses  and  fascinating 
secrets.  Taking  advantage  of  the  fact  that  their  patrons  will 
only  see  that  which  is  swept  and  garnished  for  them  in  the 
auditorium,  many  managers  have  so  neglected  not  only  appli- 
ances for  comfort,  but  for  absolute  safety,  that  a  grave  respon- 
sibility rests  upon  their  careless  and  inconsiderate  shoulders. 
Content  with  a  veneer  of  showy  decorations,  with  rich  carpet- 
ings  and  a  glittering  blaze  of  light,  they  permit  theatrical  arti- 
fice to  dominate  every  thought,  and  pay  no  heed  to  safety, 
convenience  or  comfort  in  the  working  departments  of  their 
theaters.  Beneath  the  stage,  in  the  dressing-rooms  and  high 
up  among  the  flies,  there  are  invitations  innumerable  to  disas- 
ter. Flimsy  construction  makes  the  ever-present  danger  of  fire 
constantly  more  urgent;  bad  ventilation  assures  ill  health  and 
fatal  diseases;  defective  lighting  appliances  are  ever  ready  to 
create  a  panic;  and  the  mischief  thus  set  on  foot  is  consum- 
mated through  the  criminal  failure  to  provide  exits  through 
which  an  escape  to  safety  may  be  made. 

Happily,  Mr.  Powers  did  not  wish  to  incur  the  responsi- 
bility of  managing  a  theater  under  such  conditions.  Having 
in  the  past,  during  his  career  as  business  manager  of  the  house, 
made  the  best  of  conditions  which  it  was  beyond  his  province 
to  amend,  his  first  determination  on  securing  possession  of  the 
theater  was  to  make  it,  if  possible,  the  safest  playhouse  in 
America.  Advantageously  located,  with  alleys  on  the  west 
and  north  and  an  open  court  on  the  east,  the  structure  offered 
opportunities  for  the  installation  of  safety  appliances  and  emer- 


*j£->..,0iA^3s4i'f^ 


f^& 


/^.  £^&V**>£****'  — 


w 


gency  exits^which  had  never  been  improved,  andj  among  the 
archaic  belongings  of  the  building  were  flimsy  arrangements 
that  constantly  threatened  disaster.  The  first  order  to  the 
architect  holding  a  commission  to  reconstruct  the  building  was 
to  improve  these  long-neglected  opportunities  and  remove  the 
tinder  and  rubbish  that  was  a  reminiscence  of  a  less  exacting 
theatrical  period.  Before  decoration  or  upholstery  was  consid- 
ered, the  question  of  additional  exits 
was  discussed  and  the  problem  settled 
by  cutting  three  or  four  extra  doors 
on  each  floor,  leading  to  safety  via 
iron  balconies  and  outside  stairways 
also  of  iron,  by  means  of  which  an 
easy  descent  could  be  made  to  the 
ground.  In  addition  to  this  radical 
and  most  comprehensive  scheme, 
each  floor — orchestra,  balcony  and, 
gallery  —  could,  in  case  of  necessity 
empty  itself  through  its  own  exclus- 
ive external  exits  in  two  minutes,  and 
that  without  making  any  use  at  all  of 
the  interior  stairways. 

But  here  again  Mr.  Powers  dem- 
onstrated his  anxiety  to  secure  a 
perfect  adaptation  of  means  to  an 
important  end.  Under  the  old  con- 
ditions the  principal  stairway  from  the 
balcony  occupied  a  corner  of  the  main  floor,  and  the  current  of 
humanity  flowing  down  from  above,  and  mingling  with  that 
other  current  attempting  to  escape  from  the  orchestra  caused  a 
congestion  at  the  main  exit  into  the  lobby.  This  difficulty  was 
remedied  by  removing  the  offending  stairway  and  providing  two 
independent  internal  outlets  by  means  of  which  the  people  in 
the  balcony  might  find  their  way  to  the  outer  lobby  without 
mingling  with  those  on  the  principal  floor.  In  like  manner  the 
gallery  people  may  now  pass  undisturbed  to  Randolph  street  by 

40 


MARYpjAP|NERIN6. 


41 


means  of  a  wide  stairway  devoted  exclusively  to  their  use  and 
leading  direct  to  that  thoroughfare. 

Think  not,  however,  that  the  precautions  ended  here.  The 
stage  and  its  fittings,  the  dressing-rooms  under  the  auditorium 
and  the  electric  lighting  are  the  most  constant  source  of  danger, 
a  danger  which  Mr.  Powers  has  reduced  to  the  minimum  by 
precautions  almost  unexampled  in  extent  and  value.  The 
stage,  rebuilt  and  provided  with  fireproofing  and  asbestos  curtain, 
offers  scarcely  any  temptation  to  disaster.  The  dressing-rooms, 
thoroughly  constructed  of  malachite  and  cement,  are  models 
not  only  of  safety  but  also  of  convenience,  and  with  their  com- 
plete furnishings  must  be  a  joy  to  actors  who  are  so  often 
herded  in  apartments  entirely  unfit  for  human  habitation.  Thus 
not  only  the  patrons  of  Powers'  Theater  but  those  who  belong 
to  the  working  and  artistic  force  are  provided  for  in  the  most 
lavish  and  praiseworthy  manner,  and  while  patrons  sit  in  the 
elegant  auditorium  enjoying  the  fine  performances  catered  for 
their  pleasure,  they  may  feel  genuine  satisfaction  in  the  con- 
sciousness that  the  other  departments  of  the  house  would  all 
stand  the  most  careful  inspection. 

With  the  electric  lighting  system,  the  effect  of  which  is  to 
add  not  only  beauty  to  the  house  but  a  degree  of  safety  seldom 
realized  in  any  public  building,  the  city  authorities  are  so  well 
satisfied  that  they  have  given  Mr.  Powers  an  endorsement  of 
which  he  may  well  be  proud.  While  the  chief  of  the  fire 
department  commends  all  the  arrangements  devised  with  so 
much  care  for  the  safety  of  patrons,  the  inspector  of  buildings 
not  only  duplicates  those  commendations,  but  is  specially 
impressed  by  the  thorough  manner  in  which  the  electric  instal- 
lation has  been  made.  Crossed  wires  and  all  the  evils  follow- 
ing in  their  train  will  be  unknown  in  this  theater,  where  the 
wires  through  which  run  the  subtle  electric  fluid  are  carried  in 
iron  pipes  or  conduits,  thus  curtailing  all  fear  of  danger.  Of 
the  switch  boards  and  all  those  intricate  devices  necessary  to 
control  the  current  and  enable  the  stage  manager  to  secure  the 
most  artistic  effects  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak  in  detail.      Such 


scientific  arrangements  are  bewildering,  and  would  convey 
even  less  conviction  than  the  positive  assurance  that  the 
lighting  plant  which  Mr.  Powers  has  secured  for  his  new 
theater,  without  regard  for  expense,  is  so  perfect  and  complete 
that  it  might  well  be  accepted  as  a  model  to  be  imitated  by  all 
who  control  similar  establishments.  In  this,  as  in  all  other 
particulars,  Mr.  Powers  has  held  that  the  best  is  none  too 
good  for  his  patrons. 


43 


The  Decorations. 

TURNING  from  a  consideration  of  the  radical  changes 
made  in  this  historic  theater  with  a  view  to  safety  the 
attention  is  naturally  attracted  by  the  beauty  of  the 
entrance  and  the  artistic  features  of  the  auditorium. 
One  perceives  on  approaching  the  theater  that  it  has  been  mod- 
ernized and  beautified.  The  facade,  glittering  with  lights,  has 
been  brightened  in  soft  green  tones  and  a  handsome  iron 
canopy  or  porte  cochere  extends  across  the  sidewalk  as  if 
to  offer  a  hospitable  welcome,  and  within  the  lobby  with 
its  onyx  wainscoting  and  restful  decorations  there  is  every- 
where an  exhibition  of  great  elegance  and  good  taste.  The 
architect  and  decorator  have  modernized  everything.  Not  a 
note  of  the  old  and  archaic  arrangements  remains,  but  a  taste- 
ful, graceful  scheme  of  color  has  been  applied  to  the  simple 
architectural  lines  in  such  a  manner  that  the  perspective  becomes 
a  thing  of  beauty.  The  box  office  with  its  almost  classic  out- 
lines, the  broad  sweep  of  the  stairway,  the  inviting  cosy 
nook  with  its  dado  of  portraits,  are  details  worthy  of  special 
consideration,  ministering  as  they  do  to  a  general  sense  of 
artistic  satisfaction.  One  is  dimly  and  agreeably  conscious 
that  the  artist  has  blended  the  walls  and  ceiling  in  harmonious 
tones  of  green  and  buff,  but  he  does  not  care  to  analyze  the 
satisfaction  that  comes  from  such  a  pleasing  combination  of 
lights  and  colors  with  the  dainty  rococo  traceries  that  speak  of 
a  well  remembered  period  of  French  art.  It  is  in  its  general 
effect  that  the  lobby  of  Powers'  Theater  is  to  be  considered  and 
the  verdict  of  restful  unpretentious  elegance  must  justly  be 
recorded  in  behalf  of  this  attractive  approach  to  the  auditorium 


which  has  been  and  will  be,  the  scene  of  so  many  dramatic  and 
fashionable  happenings. 

Once  within  the  inner  doors  the  color  scheme  which  the 
artist  has  devised  makes  an  immediate  impression  upon  the 
eye.  If  any  discover  indecision  in  the  lobby  or  a  lack  of 
decorative  purpose  in  its  soft  neutral  tints  no  such  impression  is 
made  by  the  first  glimpse  of  the  auditorium.  Here  the  entire 
symphony  is  played  to  the  keynote  of  Pompeian  red,  and  a 
warm  and  delightful  glow  of  color  strikes  the  eye  as  a  special 
relief  after  the  coldly  funereal  tones  that  are  so  often  found  in  the 
theaters  of  to-day.  The  garish  circus-like  trappings  once  so 
commonly  seen  in  the  playhouse  and  even  now  not  infrequently 
observed,  have  in  the  main  been  replaced  by  such  dull  tints  that 
all  satisfying  sense  of  color  is  missing  and  audiences  might  as 
well  sit  in  the  gleam  of  the  catacombs. 

Realizing  the  importance  of  bright  and  beautiful  surround- 
ings as  a  means  to  personal  comfort  and  an  aid  to  the  proper 
illusions  of  the  playhouse,  the  decorator  has,  in  this  instance, 
boldly  advanced  the  proposition  that  warmth  and  beauty  should 
be  made  to  go  hand  in  hand.  The  keynote  of  this  belief  is 
promptly  struck  in  the  rich  Pompeian  red  with  which  the  wall 
surfaces  are  covered.  The  rococo  panels  filled  in  with  paintings 
in  tapestry  effects  are  impressed,  for  artistic  contrast,  upon  this 
background  of  deep,  splendid,  historic 
red  in  a  graceful  but  most  effective  man- 
ner, and  the  ornamentation  blossoms  out 
upon  the  broad  panels  devoted  to  the 
stage  boxes  in  a  fashion  that  would  have 
delighted  the  soul  of  the  most  exacting 
artist  at  the  court  of  Louis  XIV.  The 
proscenium,  indeed,  and  the  impanelled 
boxes  forming  the  more  remote  portion 
of  the  frame  about  the  stage  opening, 
must  be  conceded  to  be  the  most  satis- 
factory example  of  modified  French  dec- 
oration that  have  recently  fallen  under  the 

45 


eye.  The  temptation  to  overdo  and  over-elaborate  this  sug- 
gestive art-form  has  been  resisted,  and  the  result  is  an  entirely 
artistic  and  restful  treatment  upon  which  the  eye  falls  with 
pleasure.  The  ornamentation,  instead  of  being  scattered  in 
reckless  profusion  throughout  the  auditorium,  is  massed,  not 
profusely,  but  with  sufficient  strength  about  the  proscenium, 
which,  in  its  colorings  of  old  ivory,  red  and  antique  gold, 
with  panelings  in  tapestry  effects,  cannot  fail  to  make  an 
impression  upon  any  appreciative  soul.  The  enwreathed 
pilasters  of  the  stage  opening,  picked  out  upon  the  flat  surfaces 
with  dull  gold,  provide  an  elegant  but  not  aggressive  frame  for  the 
stage  picture  while  the  broad  and  richly  ornamented  sounding- 
board  and  the  handsome  expanse  of  the  proscenium,  with  the 
boxes  so  artistically  imposed,  provide  a  composition  entirely 
satisfactory  to  the  artistic  sense. 

The  drop  curtain,  which  completes  this  handsome  picture, 
is  quite  worthy  the  place  of  honor  which  it  occupies,  within 
the  beautiful  frame  which  architect  and  decorator  have  provided. 
It  is  a  work  of  art  in  tapestry  style,  and  does  great  credit  to  the 
scenic  artist,  Mr.  St.  John  Lewis.  Writing  of  this  curtain 
a  Chicago  lady  of  distinguished  literary  and  artistic  abilities, 
describes  the  subject  and  the  treatment  in  the  following  appre- 
ciative language: 

The  drop  curtain  at  Powers'  Theater  depicts  the  beginning  of  one  of  the 
most  romantic  love  stories  in  history.  Louis  XIV.,  Louis  le  Grand,  Le  Roi 
Soliel,  at  23  ruler  of  one  of  the  greatest  kingdoms  of  Europe,  "with  the 
makings  of  four  kings  in  his  character,"  as  Mazarin  said,  falls  in  love  with  a 
beautiful  girl  of  17,  Louise  de  La  Valliere,  the  most  obscure  of  the  ladies  in 
waiting  to  madame,  wife  of  monsieur,  brother  of  the  king.  To  create  an 
opportunity  of  telling  her  of  his  love  and  showing  it  to  their  world,  he 
arranges  a  drive  through  the  forest  of  Fontainebleau  for  the  court,  then  at  the 
Chateau  of  Fontainebleau.  At  noon  they  set  off,  Louis  XIV.  and  monsieur 
and  their  gentlemen  on  horses  and  the  queen  and  madame  and  their  ladies  in 
carriages.  It  is  a  warm,  showery  day  in  the  fall,  and  as  the  gay  company 
passes  through  the  beautiful  forest,  the  queen  expresses  a  wish  to  walk.  They 
stop  at  one  of  the  numerous  paths  crossing  the  road  and  dismount.  Nothing 
could  have  suited  the  royal  lover  better.  He  places  himself  at  once  by  the 
side  of  La  Valliere,  who  trembles  with  fright  and  happiness,  and  they  wander 

46 


off,  followed  at  first  by  all  the  court.  Finally,  however,  perceiving  the  evi- 
dent wish  of  the  king  to  be  alone,  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  go  their  various 
ways,  each  of  them,  at  the  gay  court  of  Louis  XIV.,  having  his  or  her  small 
preference  to  indulge. 

***** 

Louis  and  Louise  walk  on,  her  arm  in  his,  his  hand  on  hers,  until  they 
reach  a  great  oak  just  as  the  first  drops  of  a  heavy  shower  begin  to  fall.  The 
king  places  La  Valliere  against  the  tree  and  stands  before  her,  hat  in  hand. 
The  rain  increases  and  Louis  draws  nearer  and 
stands  beside  her,  and  as  the  rain  finally  comes 
through  the  leaves  he  holds  his  hat  over  her 
head  to  protect  her. 

This  is  the  moment  the  artist  has  chosen 
for  his  curtain.  In  the  center  of  the  fore- 
ground is  the  grand  old  oak.  Leaning  against  the 
trunk  is  La  Valliere  in  a  yellow  muslin  gown, 
and  on  her  left,  his  right  arm  against  the  tree, 
is  the  king — his  right  hand  holding  the  large 
hat  over  her  head,  absorbed  in  and  seeing  but 
her.  In  the  background  are  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  carriages  and  horses.  Near  by  a 
servant  awaits  the  orders  of  the  king.  All  the 
court,  returning  to  the  carriages  for  protection 
from  the  shower,  now  nearly  over,  are  filled 
with  wonder  and  curiosity  at  the  sight  of  the 
king  and  La  Valliere. 

It  is  a  pretty  story  and  the  artist  has  told  it 
prettily.  History  says  the  king  remained  talk- 
ing with  the  lady  until  all  the  court  were 
assembled,  amazed  and  chattering,  around  the 
carriages,  waiting  for  his  majesty  to  give  the 
signal  to  depart.  But  this  the  king  was  in 
no  hurry  to  do.  Finally,  however,  he  offered 
her  his  arm  and,  hat  in  hand,  conducted  her, 
blushing  and  overwhelmed,  through  the  gay 
throng  to  her  carriage,  gravely  returning  the 
respectful  salutations  of  the  court.  He  then  mounted  his  horse;  the  queen  and 
madame,  followed  by  their  ladies,  seated  thamselves  in  their  carriages,  and  all 
returned  to  Fontainebleau. 


Still  another  detail  remains  upon  which  admiration  may 
dwell  while  considering  the  improvements  in  this  house  which 
one  distinguished  critic  declares  is  now  the  most  convenient 


and  elegant  theater  in  the  United  States.  The  elements  01 
convenience  and  safety  have  already  been  considered,  the  dec- 
orations have  called  for  much  appreciative  word  spinning,  but 
the  luxurious  opera  chairs,  with  their  crimson  plush  coverings 
to  harmonize  with  the  color  scheme  of  the  decorations,  are 
worthy  of  more  than  a  word.  More  roomy  than  usual,  and 
with  wider  intervals  than  common  between  the  rows  of  seats, 
they  constitute  an  important  feature  when  the  comfort  of  the 
audience  is  concerned,  while  the  rearranged  aisles  admit  of 
easy  approach. 


flRt   ESCAPES. 


4S 


49 


Friendly  Reminiscences. 

Nearly  all  the  exceptional  actors  and  im- 
portant stars  of  the  past  twenty-five  years 
have  appeared  at  some  time  in  Hooley's — 
now  Powers'  Theater.  The  roster  would 
show  scarcely  one  of  the  number  missing  and 
as  a  natural  consequence  many  are  the  pleas- 
ing recollections  inspired  by  any  mention, 
among  theatrical  folk,  of  this  house.  When 
the  notice  went  out,  borne  on  the  breezes 
and  wafted  in  newspaper  columns,  that  the 
famous  house  had  passed  in  the  direct  line  of 
succession  into  the  hands  of  Hooley's  able 
lieutenant,  Harry  J.  Powers,  a  flood  of  let- 
ters and  congratulations  rolled  in  from  every 
direction.  Many  of  them  spoke  in  most 
feeling  terms  of  the  past,  others  uttered 
prophecies  and  dreamed  dreams,  and  not 
a  few  enclosed  reminiscences  and  bits  of  anecdote. 

While  much  of  this  mass  of  correspondence  is  too  personal 
and  confidential  in  its  nature  to  warrant  publication  among  these 
cursory  notes,  some  brief  stories  and  congratulations  may  prop- 
erly serve  to  represent  the  feeling  so  generously  expressed  for 
this  theater  under  its  past  and  present  names.  Stars  and  man- 
agers alike  vied  with  each  other  in  expressing  felicitations  and 
it  would  be  strange  if  this  were  not  to  be  recorded  of  both 
classes.  The  actor  has  always  found  this  theater  a  most  enjoy- 
able stopping  place,  with  a  stage  and  an  auditorium  so  com- 
pletely   en  rapport  that  the  hard  labor    of   acting  became  a 

5o 


~£~~^^ 


1      (Xty\      G-OVULpK*\r\<s> 

auto<|roLbh     wtcf    -for    i^s^ 

LcTvACljCfVv. 


Si 


pleasure.  As  for  the  manager  he  had  only  to  recall  the 
comfortable  profit  so  often  carried  away  from  Hooky' s  box 
office  and  the  memory  at  once  became  rosy. 

And  these  our  managers  are  important  good  fellows  after  all. 
Reflect  for  a  moment  upon  the  effort  to  serve  and  please  the 
public  which  Augustin  Daly  has  put  forth  for  so  many  years, 
always,  in  Chicago,  at  this  one  theater.  Mistakes  there  may 
have  been  in  judgment,  from  time  to  time,  but  the  patrons  of 
this  historic  house  owe  him  an  immense  debt  for  catering  so 
much  that  was  good  and  so  little  that  may  be  regarded  with 
indifference. 

Another  honorable  and  distinguished  manager  who  has  left 
a  broad  mark  across  the  history  of  this  house  is  A.  M.  Palmer, 
who  now  so  ably  directs  the  business  of  Richard  Mansfield. 
In  the  Union  Square  days  and  later  with  the  Madison  Square 
and  A.  M.  Palmer  companies,  he  introduced  to  Hooley's  stage 
and  to  the  Chicago  public  many  admirable  plays  and  excellent 
artists. 

Charles  Frohman,  the  master  among  contemporaneous  man- 
agers in  the  variety  and  scope  of  his  work,  has  been,  within 
recent  years,  most  conspicuously  identified  with  this  theater. 
All  of  his  most  important  plays  given  by  the  Empire  Company 
and  other  organizations  have  been  first  seen  in  Chicago  at 
Hooley's,  and  it  is  due,  in  large  measure,  to  this  source  of  supply 
that  the  theater  has  been  able  to  maintain  such  an  exceptional 
position.  In  conjunction  with  Al  Hayman,  who  is  a  giant 
among  theatrical  operators,  Mr.  Frohman  has  been  enabled  to 
practically  dominate  the  field,  and  whatever  else  may  be  thought 
of  this  powerful  combination  it  has  certainly  placed  dramatic 
affairs  upon  a  substantial  business  basis. 

Daniel  Frohman  is  another  famous  and  able  manager  who 
has  contributed  immensely  to  the  success  of  this  theater.  With 
the  Lyceum  Company  at  his  command  and  also  as  director  of 
Sothern,  the  Kendals  and  Nethersole  he  has  given  many  fine 
performances  on  Hooley's  stage  and  his  name  invariably  con- 
veys an  impression  of  artistic  merit. 

52 


•  i^v^&^X 


There  are  many  other  managers  and  actor-managers  who 
deserve  recognition  for  their  work  in  connection  with  this 
house,  men  whose  names  will  be  easily  recalled.  But  for 
the  present  it  will  suffice  to  reproduce  in  type  and  autograph 
some  of  the  sayings  of  actors  and  friends  who  have  pleasing 
memories  ©f  the  theater  which  Mr.  Powers  now  manages. 
Each,  without  further  introduction,  may  speak  briefly  in  his  own 
words. 

William  J.  Le  Moyne 

'*  Chicago: — What  a  host  of  memories  that  word  revives. 
In  the  spring  of  1854  I  first  saw  Chicago.  I  was  then  for  the 
first  time  away  from  my  far  Eastern  home,  a  novice  in  my 
adopted  profession.  I  remember  the  old  Chicago  better  than 
the  new.  The  Sherman  House,  a  small  three-story  brick 
building.  The  City  Hall  opposite  in  the  middle  of  the  square, 
which  was  laid  out  as  a  park.  It  may  have  boasted  a  fountain, 
I  don't  remember  about  that,  but  it  was  quaint  and  pretty,  and 
an  improvement  upon  the  present  threatening  structure. 

" And  then  the  rich,  glorious  and  profuse  mud  of  those 
primitive  days!  To  see  a  team  stalled  to  the  wheel  hubs  was 
a  common  occurrence.  And  those  wonderful  plank  sidewalks, 
illustrating  to  the  weary  wayfarer  the  ups  and  downs  of  life. 
They  were  not  merely  picturesque  and  dangerous,  but  often 
deadly  to  the  gentlemen  getting  home  from  the  "club"  in  the 
early  morning. 

"  Of  theaters  there  was  but  one — Rice's  on  Dearborn  street. 
I  saw  Hamlet  played  there  by  Couldock,  John  Rice,  the  man- 
ager, playing  Polonius.  In  after  years  I  lived  next  door  to 
John  Rice;  he  was  then  mayor  of  the  city,  and  a  good  one, 
too.  He  retained  the  office  for  several  years,  and  was  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  when  death  overtook  him.  He  was  a  man  of 
sterling  integrity  and  a  pioneer  in  Western  theatricals.  I 
remember  Colonel  Wood  (afterward  manager  of  the  Chicago 
Museum)  in  those  days.      He   had  hired  an  unoccupied  store 

54 


on  Lake  street  and  was  exhibiting  a  double-headed  rooster 
(stuffed),  a  collection  of  snakes,  etc.  The  colonel  stood 
at  the  door  with  the  '  property  money '  between  his  fingers  in 
true  showman  style,  while  a  hand  organ  behind  the  screen 
assisted  him  in  beguiling  the  curious  into  the  'greatest  show  on 
earth.'  The  '  Colonel,'  afterward  as  manager  of  the  Chicago 
Museum,  became  an  important  factor  in  Chicago  amusements, 
and  made  a  well  deserved  fortune.  My  visit  to  Chicago  at 
that  time  was  made  with  an  Uncle  Tom 
Company.  I  played  the  part  of  Deacon 
Perry,  which  was  'written  in'  for  me 
by  George  Aiken  when  the  play  was  first 
produced  in  Troy,  N.Y.  Green  Ger- 
mon,  the  original  Uncle  Tom,  was  with 
us  in  Chicago.  His  performance  of  the 
part  and  singing  of  the  songs  I'm  sure  has 
never  been  equaled.  He  was  the  father  //ik 
of  Effie  Germon,  for  a  long  time  *<wM 
member  of  Wallack's  Company,  New/ ''"■ 
York.  A  splendid  actor,  a  fine  singer, 
and  a  good  man.  He  died  in  Chicago 
of  consumption,  and  on  a  cold  bleak  day 
in  March  we  buried  him  way  over  on 
the  North  Side,  not  far  from  the  lake, 
John  Rice  and  all  his  company  attend- 
ing the  funeral. 

$t  While  in  Chicago  we  played  in 
Tremont  Hall,  on  Lake  street,  next  to  the  Tremont  House. 
It  was  afterward  taken  into  the  hotel,  and  now  forms  a  part 
of  the  large  dining-room.  I  saw  it  all  and  can  never  forget 
it.  I  returned  to  Chicago  in  1 866,  and  for  two  years  was  a 
member  of  the  Museum  Company.  A  good  company,  good 
plays,  and  good  business,  together  with  good  friends,  made  the 
engagement  a  pleasant  one.  During  the  second  year  I  played 
eighty  different  parts,  one  half  of  which  were  new  to  me. 

"When  my  old  friend  Richard  Hooley  opened  his  theater 


JONN    flfUW 


with  a  stock  company  he  offered  me  an  engagement,  but  I  had 
a  contract  elsewhere  and  could  not  accept.  Year  after  year  I 
returned  to  Chicago  with  the  Union  Square  Company,  and 
later  with  the  Lyceum  Theater  Company,  and  I've  always 
looked  forward  to  those  engagements  at  Hooley's  with  delight. 
I've  played  many  good  parts  on  Hooley's  stage,  and  can  never 
forget  the  appreciative  and  sympathetic  audiences.  It  was  on 
the  front  steps  of  Hooley's  Theater  that  I  first  met  the  lady 
who  is  now  my  very  much  better  half.  Why  shouldn't  I  love 
Hooley's?" 

Olga  Nethersole 

"One  night,  I  believe  it  was  on  my  first  visit  to  Hooley's 
Theater,  anyway  I  was  playing  Juliet  I  remember,  I  had  a 
curious  little  experience  which  at  the  time  caused  me  more 
annoyance  than  fun.  I  had  come  off  the  stage  after  the  potion 
scene  in  'Romeo  and  Juliet.'  An  immense  audience  had 
responded  readily  to  my  efforts,  and  I  was  rewarded  by  the 
raising  and  lowering  of  the  curtain  time  after  time.  Flushed 
with  my  triumph,  filled  with  enthusiasm  and  determined  to  try 
and  deserve  even  warmer  applause  in  the  last  act  of  poor 
Juliet's  tragic  story,  I  hurried  to  my  dressing-room  to  prepare 
for  the  tomb  scene. 

"As  I  approached  the  room  I  heard  a  babel  of  excited 
voices,  and  as  I  pushed  open  the  door  a  shout  of  warning 
went  up  in  three  different  languages.  Imagine  my  surprise 
at  seeing  my  French  maid,  usually  a  very  calm,  fearless  indi- 
vidual, standing  on  a  chair  with  her  skirts  drawn  tightly  round 
her  legs;  on  a  trunk  my  other  maid,  a  German,  with  her  skirts 
drawn  well  up  above  her  knees;  on  the  ground,  on  all  fours, 
three  sturdy  stage  hands  prodding  with  sticks  under  the  dressing 
table  and  curtains;  behind  the  door,  armed  with  an  enormous 
iron  bar,  poised  well  aloft,  stood  the  colored  janitor  of  the 
theater.  Everybody  was  talking  at  once  and  the  women's 
faces  looked  perfectly  deathlike. 

56 


S7 


"It  was  excitedly  explained  to  me  that  a  mouse  had  jumped 
from  behind  my  costumes  which  were  hanging  on  the  wall, 
had  disappeared  under  the  table,  and  the  maids  had  called  in 
this  army  of  stage  hands  to  oust  the  intruder. 

"I  had  no  time  to  spare,  the  audience  was  waiting  and  I  was 
not  dressed,  but  neither  threats  nor  cajoling  would  induce  those 
two  women  to  budge  from  their  respective  impregnable  posi- 
tions. They  loudly  protested  against  my  summary  ejection  of 
the  men,  and  one  of  them  was  even  on  the  point  of  crying. 
To  make  a  long  story  short,  I  had  to  dress  myself  for  the  last 
act  while  my  maids  looked  on  with  chattering  teeth.  One  of 
them  certainly  expressed  the  highest  admiration  for  my  bravery 
and  valor,  but  never  an  inch  moved  she.  When  I  went  on 
for  the  last  act,  I  left  them  on  their  perches,  looking  like  a  pair 
of  gigantic  birds. 

"I  could  not  help  wondering  what  the  audience  would 
have  thought  if  they  had  known  of  the  funny  scene  in  my 
room,  and  the  difficulties  under  which  I  attired  myself.  On 
my  final  return  to  my  room,  both  the  women  had  fled  incon- 
tinently, and  nothing  could  persuade  them  to  return.  How 
they  induced  themselves  to  step  on  the  ground  at  all  I  cannot 
imagine,  but  I  am  free  to  say  that  I  never  knew  a  mouse  to 
cause  such  an  amount  of  terror  and  inconvenience  as  did  the 
little  brown  stranger  at  Hooley's  Theater." 

J.  E.  Dodson 

"Heartiest  congratulations  on  your  becoming  lessee  of  one  of 
the  most  charming  theaters  I  have  ever  played  in,  either  here 
or  in  Great  Britain.  Its  construction  has  always  seemed  to 
me  perfect.  Acting  is  a  pleasure  when  the  actor  knows  that 
the  lowest  inflection  of  his  voice  is  heard,  and  the  slightest 
change  of  expression  seen,  all  over  the  house.  Hooley's  Thea- 
ter and  the  Empire,  New  York,  are  two  of  the  best  theaters 
in  the  United  States.  Apropos  of  your  theater,  here  is  an 
anecdote : 

58 


/by  ft*~S&T 


59 


"  After  returning  from  a  tour  in  the  United  States  with  the 
Kendal  Company,  which  had  included  a  visit  to  Hooley's 
Theater,  Chicago,  we  played  an  engagement  in  Liverpool, 
England.  Coming  out  of  the  Court  Theater  one  night,  a  man 
stepped  up  to  me  and  said  in  broad  Scotch : 

"'Maester  Dodeson,  aw'm  staarving  ;  wuel  ye  no  help  me?' 

'"Who  are  you?     Have  I  seen  you  before?'   said  I. 

"'Och,  ay!  in  the  Unechted  States.  Aw  was  property 
mon  at  Hooligan's  Theeter,  Chicawgo,  when  ye  wer'  ther' 
wi'  the  Kaindals.' 

"'Oh,  indeed,'  I  said.  'Can  you  tell  me  what  state 
Chicago  is  in  ? ' 

"'Ay,  sir,  Cahliforrnia.' 

"'And  in  what  part  of  the  city  is  Hooligan's?' 

'"On  the  lak'  front,  sur.' 

"After  that  I  helped  him." 


Joseph  Hart 

"When  with  Mr.  Frederick  Hallen,  the  firm  being  known 
as  Hallen  &  Hart,  we  desired  to  invade  Chicago,  we  of  course 
chose  to  negotiate  with  the  most  select  theater  in  that  city. 

"  Hooley's  Theater,  up  to  that  time, 
had  been  playing  the  highest  dramatic 
stars.  When  we  approached  R.  M. 
Hooley,  'Uncle  Dick,'  as  he  was  then 
called,  with  a  view  of  playing  'Later 
On'  at  Hooley's  Theater,  he  was  in- 
dignant at  the  thought  of  desecrating 
Hooley's  Theater  with  ordinary  farce 
comedy.  After  our  manager,  Mr.  Harry 
Hine,  and  Harry  Powers  had  argued  for 
more  than  a  week,  he  was  finally  per- 
suaded to  play  us  during  the  week  before 
Christmas.  I  will  never  forget  our  open- 
ing night.  'Uncle  Dick'  sat  in  a  box 
<1*>^  60 


to  witness  our  initial  performance.  If  I  remember  rightly  he 
was  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Powers. 

"Chilly  was  the  atmosphere  in  'Uncle  Dick's'  vicinity 
when  the  curtain  rose,  and  I  don't  believe  Hallen  and  myself, 
when  on  the  stage,  saw  any  one  else  in  the  theater. 

"  As  the  performance  wore  on,  the  audience  became  quite 
friendly  and  seemed  to  enjoy  it  greatly,  and  as  Mrs.  Powers 
began  to  show  signs  of  her  appreciation  by  frequent  laughter 
and  applause,  just  so  gradually  did  the  temperature  around 
'Uncle  Dick's'  chair  begin  to  rise.  It  wasn't  long  before  we 
had  him  enjoying  the  performance  as  heartily  as  any  one  in  the 
theater. 

"  We  were  not  sure  what  his  verdict  would  be,  but  were 
more  concerned  in  having  his  approval  than  in  anything  else  just 
at  that  time. 

"  I  don't  remember  a  happier  moment  in  my  life  when  he 
addressed  us  after  the  performance  with  the  following  words  : 
'Boys,  it  isn't  high  art,  but  it  is  pure,  clean,  wholesome  fun, 
and  does  us  good  once  in  a  while,  so  come  around  again.' 

"  We  delivered  that  'wholesome  fun'  in  Chicago  several 
times  after  that,  but  never  forgot  our  appearance  at  Hooley's 
and  the  interest  we  felt  in  the  engagement." 

Nate  Salsbury 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  opportunity  to  express  my  affectionate 
remembrance  of  Hooley's  Theater,  and  to  record  my  pride  in 
having  been  a  member  of  the  Original  stock  company  which 
made  'The  Parlor  Home  of  Comedy'  famous  in  the  theatrical 
annals  of  this  country. 

"  Many  may  contribute  to,  but  no  man  can  write  the  'His- 
tory of  Hooley's  Theater;'  for  he  who  would  seek  to  do  so 
must  question  the  hearts  of  multitudes  of  Chicago's  citizens,  and 
know  how  pervading  was  its  influence  in  the  establishment  of 
all  that  was  good  and  ennobling. 


"  There  lives  no  one  of  those  who  belonged  to  the  old  stock 
company  who  could  not  fill  all  the  pages  of  your  'Mono- 
graph* with  personal  'Recollections'  of  our  happy  com- 
munity; and  I  doubt  if  any  of  that  company  who  have 
achieved  success  later  in  life  would  not  ascribe  a  large  measure 
of  that  success  to  the  opportunities  of  their  wide  experience  in 
Hooley's  Theater. 

"  How  the  pulses  quicken  as  memories  crowd  upon  my 
mind:  memories  of  comradeship,  trials,  labor  rewarded,  and 
pleasant  hours  nfultiplied  in  the  'Good  old  days'  that  will 
ever  keep  me  bondman  to  them  all. 

"I  cannot  write  of  Hooley's  Theater.  I  can  only  'recol- 
lect' that  through  its  portals  sifted  the  first  ray  of  sunshine 
that  drifted  across  my  professional  journeying,  and  that  its 
patrons  were  always  kind  to  me.  What  more  could  I  write  ? 
What  more  could  I  say  ? 

"I  note  you,  Mr.  Powers,  as  'The  Sole  Lessee  and  Man- 
ager.'     I  congratulate  you. 

"That  you  are  heir  to  such  responsibility  is  proof  of  your 
fitness  to  perpetuate  the  policy  and  traditions  of  a  house  that 
was  not  built  'Upon  the  sands,'  but  which  shall  endure,  a 
landmark,  and  a  guide  to  those  who  shall  come  after  you. 

"  You  have  grown  with  the  house;  I  hope  you  will  never 
outgrow  it." 

Charles  E.  Nixon 

"Business  enterprise  allied  with  artistic  tact  have  advanced 
the  parlor  home  of  comedy  to  proud  preeminence  among  the 
theaters  of  the  world.  People  ordinarily  are  unaccustomed  to 
note  the  establishment  of  artistic  precedents  in  the  West ;  but 
the  Powers'  Theater  (late  Hooley's)  occupies  a  unique  position 
among  the  temples  devoted  to  the  drama.  One  may  make 
bold  to  remark  that  none  of  the  so-called  creative  stages  of  the 
"East,  or  the  favored  subvented  theaters  of  Europe  can  claim 
such  a  line  of  attractions.      This  house  has  long  maintained  a 

62 


Rye.N.Y.  f<fyf' 

%***  &&    a^>  JutuapzL. 


ffaret*t 


63 


loyal  clientele  of  the  best  character  attracted  to  its  support  by 
the  superior  quality  of  the  entertainments  it  uniformly  presents." 

James  T.  Powers 

"I  recall  with  pleasure  my  first 
appearance  at  Hooley's  Theater 
with  Mr.  Willie  Edouin  in 
'  Dreams,  or  Fun  in  a  Photograph 
Gallery',  in  1882.  I  was  intro- 
duced to  Mr.  Hooley,  after  the 
performance,  by  Mr.  Edouin.  In 
the  course  of  conversation  it  was 
suggested  that  we  should  go  to  the 
cafe  for  some  liquid  refreshments. 
Mr.  Hooley  gave  the  order  in  the 
following  manner : 

titA  sherry,  one  seltzer  and 
a  liniment  cocktail  for  Mr.  Powers, 
as,  after  seeing  his  performance,  I 
think  he  needs  it.'  As  this  occurred  nearly  seventeen  years 
ago  I  am  at  a  loss  to  give  the  proper  finish  to  this  narrative, 
as  I  cannot  remember  for  the  life  of  me  who  drank  that 
seltzer." 


fjAVDt  ^JDAMS. 


Eddie  Foy 

"  I  remember  Hooley's  Theater,  its  glories,  past,  present  and 
departed,  with  a  feeling  akin  to  affection.  It  was  in  the 
blind  alley  which  terminates  at  the  stage  door  of  Hooley's 
that  I  first  conceived  the  idiocy  of  taking  to  the  boards.  Pen- 
niless and  ambitious  I  stole  many  a  pleasant  half  hour  straining 
to  catch  a  modicum  of  what  those  who  had  paid  the  price  were 
listening  to  and  enjoying.  The  night  was  never  too  dark  nor 
the  road  too  long  but  that  the  writer  would  toddle  along  to 
his  coign  of  hypothecated  vantage  in  the  alley.      Twenty -five 

64 


^ny^^c^^^r'y^ 


^2f~  ^j* 


€> 


MA****** 


65 


years  ago  my  then  already  elongated  ears  caught  the  familiar, 
'Be  seated,  gentlemen,'  two  taps  of  the  bones  and  tambourine, 
and  I  knew  Hooley's  Minstrels  had  commenced.  Though  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago,  I  still  recall  on  the  same  programme, 
Nat  C.  Goodwin,  since  attained  the  pinnacle  of  thespian  great- 
ness; Scanlin  &  Cronin,  Mackin  &  Wilson,  Schoolcraft  & 
Coes,  and  George  S.  Knight,  and  others  famed  in  story  and 
song  of  the  stage.  My  ambition  then  was  to  break  into  the 
business.  I  say  this  advisedly.  Years  after  I  played  at 
Hooley's  with  the  late  George  S.  Knight  in  « Over  the  Garden 
Wall.'  Now  years  after  that  event  it  is  with  pleasurable  rever- 
ence that  I  recall  my  first  introduction  to  what  has  since  become 
all  that  is  ennobling,  grand,  good  and  pure  in  a  theater." 

Chas.  H.  Hoyt 

"If  I  tried  to  catalogue  all  the  pleasant  memories  I  have 
of  Hooley's  Theater,  it  would  be  to  make  a  longer  letter  than 
the  book  would  hold;  it  would  include  memories  of  unvarying 
kindness  and  courtesy,  of  stays  in  the  theater  made  pleasant  by 
the  efficiency  and  good  discipline  back  of  the  curtain  and  good 
trade  at  the  box  office.  I  am  very  proud  of  the  records  made 
by  'A  Bunch  of  Keys,'  'A  Parlor  Match,'  and  'A  Brass 
Monkey '  within  your  walls.  May  the  house  ever  continue  its 
career  of  success." 

Chas.  E.  Evans 

"I  shall  be  proud  to  be  included  among  the  professionals 
who  are  identified  with  the  greenroom  of  Hooley's  Theater. 
I  have,  perhaps,  as  good  a  reason  to  be  always  pleasantly 
reminded  of  this  charming  old  playhouse  as  any  of  the  many 
players  who  have  trod  its  stage.  I  feel  that  it  is  the  home  of 
my  theatrical  career,  for  there  I  inaugurated  the  legitimate 
element  of  two  of  the  principal  branches  of  my  stage  life,  viz., 
comedian  and  star,  having  played  with  Smith  &  Mestayer's 

66 


'Tourists  in  a  Pullman  Palace  Car'  in  June,  1882,  originating 
one  of  my  two  favorite  eccentric  characters,  and  later  enjoying 
as  a  star  with  my  late  brother  player,  the  talented  William 
Hoey,  the  first  real  success  of  'A  Parlor  Match'  in  a  legitimate 
playhouse." 

Henry  Clay  Barnabee 

"You  do  well  to  give  the  theater  your  name.  In  theatrical 
management,  as  in  war,  it's  'the  man  behind  the  gun'  that 
carries  the  day.  You  have  demonstrated  this  by  your  accurate 
aims.  In  a  letter  which  I  wrote  you,  after  the  words,  'your 
unfailing  courtesy,'  I  wanted  to  write,  'a  distinguishing 
feature  of  your  management,'  but  that  I  did  not  wish  to  seem 
to  reflect  upon  other  managers,  but  it  is  a  fact  nevertheless.  I 
firmly  believe  that  courtesy  and  politeness,  in  front  of  the  house, 
is  the  most  potent  factor  in  keeping  customers.  All  of  which 
is  respectfully  submitted.  Again  I  wish  you  and  your  theater 
a  career  of  unexampled  prosperity." 

Frank  Daniels 

"I  have  a  very  positive  reason  for  keeping  a  warm  place  in 
my  heart  for  Hooley's  Theater.  At  a  certain  stage  of  my 
career  (I  won't  say  how  many  years  ago)  I  launched  out  as  a 
star  in  a  piece  called  'Little  Puck.'  I  think  we  employed 
about  all  the  available  rewriters  of  plays  in  the  country,  one 
by  one,  and  presented  nearly  a  dozen  different  versions  of  the 
comedy.  The  result  was  that  after  about  two  months  of  this 
soul-searing  work,  my  partner  retired  in  disgust,  and  I  assumed 
the  responsibilities  of  proprietorship.  I  gave  the  piece  a  thor- 
ough snaking  up,  introduced  as  much  new  material  as  I  could 
think  up,  added  some  musical  numbers,  and  cut  out  a  good 
deal  of  cumbersome  spectacularism,  and  went  into  Chicago  to 
play  Holy  Week  at  Hooley's.      To  my  very  great  surprise  the 

67 


piece  made  a  tremendous  hit  and  played  to  enormous  business. 
This  was  the  first  paying  week  'Little  Puck'  had  known,  and 
when  I  tell  you  that  it  never  knew  a  loser  for  seven  years,  you 
will  perceive  what  an  era  of  prosperity  was  inaugurated  for 
me  at  Hooley's,  and  why  I  have  a  tender  regard  for  that 
famous  playhouse.  I  am  quite  sure  that  it  will  continue  for 
many  years  to  be  a  delight  to  all  who  play  there.'' 


David  Belasco 

"1  look  upon  Hooley's  Theater 
with  much  gratitude  and  reverence, 
and  in  the  same  spirit  of  affection, 
deep  from  my  heart,  which  I  had  for 
Mr.  Hooley. 

"Over  twenty  years  ago  I  met 
Mr.  Hooley  in  San  Francisco.  I 
was  a  very  young  man  struggling  for 
a  little  recognition,  and  I  had  written 
my  first  play.  He  was  kind  enough 
to  invite  me  to  read  it  to  him.  He 
gave  me  no  production,  but  he  did 
give  me  encouragement.  'Let  me 
see  your  third  or  fourth  play,'  he  said 
as  we  parted.  I  kept  him  to  his  word: 
of  Oak.'  It  was  produced  in  Chicago 
It  was  my  first  important  production. 
Strange  to  say,  my  last  drama,  written  for  Mrs.  Leslie  Carter, 
'The  Heart  of  Maryland,'  was  originally  to  have  been  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Hooley  at  his  theater.  I  had  made  a  contract 
with  him,  but,  owing  to  his  death  and  a  combination  of  other 
circumstances,  the  agreement  was  cancelled. 

"That  the  new  Powers  Theater  may  keep  up  the  glorious 
traditions  of  the  old  house,  is  my  wish." 


James  fc.||Aeicrr?, 


that  play  was  'Hearts 
at  Hooley's  Theater. 


*/Tfy_ 


5,  Norfolk  street. 
Park  Lane.w. 


Am  fan  fb*  S#**  Yr      *>  -fy-r- 

flfar*.  Ja*ti*c,  Jty&(  > 

fodi&J    £U^    /%t/ 

&*6*~  Y  Obey,  dca^y^j  fy 

jfohpteuft" &<>    fC\A  &fai<~A;   6UC3C.  £*m£*»* 
^    fonLf*  'fa  ^^ 

J6r  ^L  Xtt&UL*  SA&Z. 


Herbert  Kelcey 

"As  good  luck  would  have  it." 

— Merry  Wives  of  Windsor. 

"I  am  sure  that  I  am  not  wanting  in  veneration  for  the 
immortal  Bard,  but  I  have  never  felt  under  so  strong  a  personal 
obligation  to  him  as  at  this  moment,  for  the  forceful  manner  in 
which  he  has  enabled  me  to  express  my  profound  sense  of 
honor  and  appreciation  in  being  permitted  to  assist  at  the 
rededication  of  Chicago's  historic  Theater." 

Recalling  Evans  &  Hoey 

One  of  the  most  popular  early  attractions  at  Hooley's  was 
Evans  &  Hoey's  "A  Parlor  Match."  Evans  &  Hoey  played 
here  regularly  twice  a  year,  two  weeks  in  the  fall  and  two  in 
the  spring,  to  large  audiences.  The  initial  engagement  was  so 
successful  that,  at  its  close,  Mr.  Hooley  contracted  with  Evans 
&  Hoey  to  appear  twice  a  season  for  five  years. 

Evans  &  Hoey  began  their  most  important  engagement  in 
Chicago  the  same  week  that  Frank  Daniels  was  first  featured  in 
"A  Rag  Baby"  by  Hoyt  &  Thomas  at  an  opposition  theater, 
the  Grand  Opera  House.  An  amusing  story  about  the  meeting 
of  the  three  comedians  on  the  very  day  of  their  opening  is 
related  by  a  mutual  friend.  They  realized,  it  appears,  that  they 
were  rivals  in  business,  playing  as  they  were  in  rival  pieces  by 
the  same  playwright  and  at  opposition  houses,  so  each  of  the 
jolly  trio — Evans,  Hoey  and  Daniels — when  they  met  on  the 
street  did  their  best  to  express  true  friendship  and  extreme  good 
nature  toward  one  another.  They  had  luncheon  together,  and 
not  satisfied  with  this,  visited  in  company  all  the  noted  resorts 
of  the  city,  puffing  the  largest  cigars  they  could  buy  one  another 
and  drinking  all  the  brands  of  wine,  dry  and  sweet,  they  could 
order.  The  dinner  hour  found  them  playing  billiards  for  $25 
a  cue  in  the  Tremont  House,  and  each  of  them  was  feeling  so 
good  from  the  effects  of  the  day's  refreshments  that  they  could 

70 


with  but  difficulty  distinguish  the  ivory  balls  from  the  chandelier 
globes,  and  it  was  apparent  that  neither  cared  very  much 
whether  they  played  with  the  cues  or  their  walking  sticks. 
Still  they  kept  on,  each  doing  his  utmost  to  express  the  sin- 
cerest  good  feeling  for  the  other.  It  grew  dangerously  near 
seven  o'clock,  the  dressing-room  hour,  but  they  showed  no  signs 
of  separating.  The  crowd  of  on -lookers  hinted  to  them  that  it 
was  full  time  that  they  went  to  work ;  each  only  brushed  away 
the  informant  and  returned  to  the  play.  Mr.  Evans  smiled  at 
Mr.  Daniels;  Mr.  Daniels  smiled  at  Mr.  Evans,  and  they  both 
showered  smiles  on  "Old  Hoss,"  who  kept  up  a  continued 
mumbling  about  there  being  no  such  thing  on  earth  as  rivals. 
At  7:30  o'clock  both  Hooley's  Theater  and  the  Grand  Opera 
House  stage  managers  began  to  worry;  their  stars  had  not 
commenced  to  show  signs  of  twinkling,  and  messengers  were 
despatched  to  every  place  likely  to  be  visited  by  the  three  gentle- 
men. Mr.  Hoyt  was  informed,  and  he,  too,  started  out  in 
search  of  his  comedian,  without  whom  "A  Rag  Baby"  could 
not  be  anything  but  tame  on  the  opening  night.  And  all  this 
time  "I.  McCorker,"  "Old  Hoss"  and  "Old  Sport" 
were  McCorkering,  Hossing  and  Sporting  to  their  heart's 
content  over  the  topsy-turvy  billiard  table. 

At  7:45  the  three  good-natured  gentlemen  stumbled  out  to 
the  street,  and  then  began  the  usual  long-strung-out  good-by 
and  hand-shaking  promise-to-meet-you-again  ceremony  indulged 
in  by  men  who  have  been  on  excellent  terms  all  day.  To  any 
one  directly  interested  in  their  opening  success  that  night  the 
amount  of  time  they  took  to  bid  one  another  good  day  and 
separate  would  have  seemed  long  enough  for  them  to  have  bid 
farewell  forever.  Daniels  would  shake  Evans  by  the  hand 
and  drag  out  a  long  speech  about  friendship;  then  he'd  fairly 
hug  "Old  Hoss"  and  spin  a  good-by  yarn  to  him,  and 
then  he'd  switch  back  to  Evans  and  they'd  have  it  all  over 
again. 

There  are  only  two  characters  in  the  world  who  really 
know  how  to  perform  a  good  old  prolonged  au  revoir:  the  good- 


natured  man  in   high  spirits  and  the  old  lady   street-car  pas- 
senger. 

Well,  they  did  separate — Daniels  meandered  down  Dear- 
born street  and  Evans  and  Hoey  hurried  through  Randolph 
street.  The  " Parlor  Match"  comedians  began  to  realize  as 
soon  as  they  left  Daniels  that  it  must  be  rather  near  8  o'clock, 
and  they  exchanged  a  half-knowing  look  and  each  started  on  a 
trot  theater-ward.  Daniels  wandered  into  a  basement  cafe, 
where,  perched  high  up  on  a  counter  stool,  the  now  infuriated 
Mr.  Hoyt  discovered  him  at  ten 
minutes  to  eight,  slowly  imbibing  a 
cup  of  hot  tea  and  pouring  great 
quantities  of  red  pepper  on  a  plate  of 
little  clams.  Hoyt  denounced  him  in 
all  sorts  of  expressions,  and  waving  his 
arms  in  anger  and  anxiety,  yelled  that 
he  was  ruined,  utterly  ruined.  He 
called  "Old  Sport"  half  a  hundred 
ungentle  epithets  and  denounced  his 
condition  as  scandalous. 

"  Who  ?  I  ?"  said  the  little  come- 
dian, half  indignant  at  a  rather  strong 
point  in  the  denouncement,  "I — 
well,  you  ought  to  see  Evans  and 
Hoey!"  and  he  was  then  fairly 
„,  dragged  from  the  high  stool  and,  tea- 
cup in  hand,  carried  to  his  dressing 
room.  He  was  late,  but  his  make-up  and  performance  was 
remarkable,  and  he  made  the  hit  of  his  life.  Hoyt,  now  in 
excellent  spirits  over  the  success  of  his  star,  hurried  over  to 
Hooley's,  fully  anticipating  a  directly  opposite  state  of  affairs, 
but  he  was  mistaken,  for  he  found  both  Evans  &  Hoey  on  the 
stage  in  all  the  glory  of  their  best  scene,  and  as  unperturbed 
and  merry  as  if  they  had  been  in  their  dressing-rooms  an  hour 
ahead  of  make-up  time.  They,  too,  on  this  occasion  started 
the  foundation  of  their  great  future.     They  were  an  instantane- 

72 


A,    vfc-Ap  t:  7p— ^  cx^^-JL.^*-- 

73 


ous  hit  with  the  big  audience,  and  immediately  won  the  five 
years'  contract  from  Mr.  Hooley,  who  sat  in  a  box  and 
enjoyed  the  performance  perhaps  as  well  as  any  individual  of 
the  crowded  house. 

HOWBERT    BlLLMAN 

'  *  The  New  Powers'  Theater !  It  is  symbolical  of  the  time  — 
of  new  things  taking  the  places  of  old,  of  a  city  grow- 
ing out  of  a  great  town,  of  a  century  of  material  activity  giving 
way  to  a  century  fraught  with  possibilities  of  new  intellectual 
and  artistic  life. 

"To  many  of  us,  who  find  the  most  gratifying  entertainment 
in  the  theater,  its  past  is  of  no  greater  moment  than  the  joys  of 
yesterday.  We  might  look  upon  the  massive  ruins  of  the 
Coliseum  at  Rome;  and,  if  a  thought  was  suggested  of  its 
departed  glory  and  of  the  silent  multitudes  who  with  flushed 
cheeks  once  looked  down  from  its  serried  benches  upon  contest 
and  pageant,  the  heart  would  be  warmed  with  no  intimate, 
satisfying  pleasure.  'Tis  even  so  of  Hooley's —  a  delightful 
memory,  but  crowded  into  the  dark  recesses  of  the  mind  by  the 
pressing  pleasures  of  the  present. 

"  I  am  reminded  of  an  old  love  tale,  though  little  of  it  survives 
except  what  concerns  the  avowal  between  two  young  people, 
who  played  together  in  childhood,  were  often  together  in  youth, 
and  at  length  discovered  suddenly  that  their  friendship  had 
imperceptibly  undergone  a  complete  change. 

'"They  are  building  over  yonder/  he  said,  'a  cathedral 
on  the  site  of  the  old  church.  The  church  still  stands ;  and 
the  grand  and  massive  framework  of  the  cathedral  is  being 
raised  over  it.  Until  the  cathedral  is  near  completion  the 
church  will  be  used.      Then  it  will  be  torn  down.' 

"The  New  Powers'  Theater  has  risen  over  venerable 
Hooley's.  The  regard  for  the  old  that  survives  in  the  memory 
is  giving  way  to  a  feeling  of  admiration  that  is  warmer  and 
stronger." 

74 


/rggZr 


/_ 


Amy  Leslie 

"Likely  nobody  who  has  been  ushered  into  Powers'  beautiful 
theater  (one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world  it  may  be  claimed) 
could  have  felt  its  sumptuous  loveliness  more  keenly  than  I,  for 
at  Hooley's  dawned  the  first  theatrical  performance  ever 
allowed  to  feed  my  youthful  senses. 

"  Through  a  vista  of  puppets,  to  every  one  of  which  I  owe  a 
cornucopia  of  gratitude,  it  all  came  back  to  me  as  I  entered  the 
new  Powers'  chapel  of  color,  and  hid  in  the  wistful  recollection 
was  a  kindly  Kriss  Kringle  smile  creeping  through  the  beard 
and  out  of  the  eyes  of  Richard  Hooley.  For  once  upon  a 
time,  home  from  a  still,  gray  convent,  his  little  daughter 
Rosina  and  I  came  flying  with  Christmas  snows  and  enthusi- 
asms; then  the  wonderful  happened. 

"We  romped  to  the  theater  as  soon  as  we  found  footing  upon 
worldly  soil,  because  Rosina  with  sparkling  forget-me-not  eyes 
and  many  exciting  shakes  of  her  silken  hair  had  pictured  a 
marvelous  war  play  holding  forth  at  her  father's  bandbox  of 
comfort  and  amusement,  surprised  the  while  that  any  girl  could 
truthfully  acknowledge  never  having  attended  a  theater,  as  I,  in 
profound  humiliation,  had  been  spurred  on  to  confess.    I  made 

75 


bold  to  recall  two  approximate  entertainments  into  the  vortex 
of  which  I  had  been  thrust  at  a  tender  and  impressionable  age, 
but  Rosina's  sweet  lips  curled  with  compassionate  scorn  at  the 
revelations.  One  frenzied  hour  I  had  spent  shrieking  with  fear 
(when  the  family  pocket  handkerchiefs  were  not  crammed  into 
my  soprano  laboratory)  at  an  exhibition  in  Marion  Hall,  Bur- 
lington, Iowa,  where  the  wild  Australian  girl,  Aztec  boy  and 
Siamese  twins  divided  attention  with  a  certain  comical  vocalist 
whose  humorous  hostilities  rent  my  budding  soul  with  misery. 
I  remember  having  been — in  complete  disgrace  and  hysterics — 
handed  out  over  the  heads  of  people,  to  the  care  of  an  indignant 
nurse  who  resented  the  interruption  of  the  comedian's  musical 
lifting  out  of  obscurity  the  ditty: 

Oh,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  how  do  you  do  ? 
You  see  I  come  here  with  one  boot  and  one  shoe, 
O  !  O  !  How  can  it  be  so  ? 
Just  pity  the  fortunes  of  Billy  Barlow  ! 

"The  gentle  and  beloved  Rosina  lamented  but  ignored  this 
experience,  nor  did  she  regard  as  worthy  of  consideration  the 
assurance  that  I  had  at  one  time  beheld  the  loveliest  and  saddest 
performance  of  'Uncle  Tom's  Cabin'  at  a  Council  Bluffs 
theater,  built  over  a  robust  and  profitable  livery  stable.  It  was 
a  blow  for  me  to  learn  that  the  winged  little  Eva  of  Council 
Bluffs  was  a  diverting  back  number  in  Chicago,  for  the  vision 
of  Eva  and  her  silver-star  wand  wiggling  against  pink  and  blue 
tarletan  clouds  stricken  with  tin  foil,  had  been  the  twilight 
dream  of  my  childhood's  occasional  moments  of  intense  reflec- 
tion. I  plead  for  Eva  against  the  war  play  with  some  vigor,  for 
that  especial  delivery  of  'Uncle  Tom's  Cabin'  was  certainly 
'the  saddest  play  I  ever  saw  for  fifty  cents.'  In  fact,  even 
as  I  think  of  it  now  it  makes  me  feel  very  badly.  I  doubt 
whether  I  could  ever  again  hear  'Lily  Dale'  without  wilting 
into  moods ;  for  while  my  Council  Bluffs  Eva  ascended 
mysteriously  from  the  livery  stable  through  the  stage  floor  up 
toward  a  celestial,  juju  paste  firmament,  the  entire  company  in 

76 


(£^*^££LjC& 


11 


subdued  tremolo  accompanied  by  the  melodeon  rendered  that 
harrowing  ballad  with  words  subjected  to  poetic  transfiguration 
so  that  they  came  out  appropriately: 

Oh  Eva,  dear  Eva,  sweet  Eva  St.  Clair, 

Now  the  wild  flowers  blossom  o'er  your  heavenly  shore 

'Neath  the  trees  of  the  flow'ry  air  ! 

"  I  have  cause  to  remember  the  words  vividly  for  they  were 
demanded  with  sobs  over  again  and  again,  and  General  Gren- 
ville  Dodge,  who  had  taken  me  to  see  the  show,  was  rudely 
awakened  out  of  a  sound  sleep  by  my  pitching  my  small  head 
upon  his  breast  and  weeping  as  if  my  heart  would  break,  much 
to  that  distinguished  soldier's  helpless  consternation.  With 
my  mind  still  in  this  primitive  state  of  undisturbed  blankness 
regarding  the  drama,  Rosina,  all  aglow,  led  me  into  Hooley's 
Theater,  where  I  drank  in  the  splendors  of  a  real,  magnificent, 
thrilling  play,  after  which  my  Missouri-slope  Eva  took  a  tumble 
in  her  tarletans  which,  with  deepest  gratitude,  I  shall  regret  as 
long  as  I  live. 

'*  Owing  to  this  breaking  of  a  butterfly  and  many  hours  of 
tender  companionship  and  revelry  I  looked  upon  blessed  old 
Hooley's,  outwardly  in  its  same  familiar  mask  of  scowls 
against  the  storms  of  a  life-time,  but  within  made  as  resplendent 
as  the  Versailles  Temple  D' Amour,  and  from  out  the  shadows 
arose  fragile,  lovely  Rosina  Hooley,  with  folded  wings,  and  the 
hearty,  cheering  visage  of  her  sire,  who  seemed  to  smile  through 
tears  and  wish  it  all  good  speed  ! 

"  It  matters  more  these  rich  and  spoiled  days  of  plenty  how 
the  golden  cages  for  stage  witcheries  are  built,  of  what  stuff 
plays  are  made  and  whether  the  actors  be  as  grave  as  Lear  in 
his  fettered  search  or  rollicking  as  Souvestre's  Drak,  the  elves' 
buffoon  who  would  start  the  fairies  scudding  across  fields  by 
starlight  just  for  the  sport  of  turning  cart  wheels  heels  over 
head  in  their  pollen-dusty  rose-bloom  tracks  on  the  flower 
petals.  Lear  and  Drak  and  less  fantastic  discoursers  to  the 
emotions,  have  always  found  ardent  listeners  at  Hooley's,  for  it 

78 


has  been  long  the  fashion  to  hunt  enjoyment  there.  Comedy 
perhaps  is  closer  linked  with  the  triumphs  of  this  little  queen 
of  theaters,  grown  old  and  new  again  since  my  baptism  in  red 
fire,  though  every  sort  of  beguilement  from  the  frowns  of  dull 
occupation  is  entered  in  its  lists,  and  every  phase  of  art  is 
greeted  faithfully.  To  actors  the  handsome  theater  is  home, 
with  laurel  hanging  upon  the  gates  and  wreaths  ready  to  be 
thrown  to  the  victors.  Truth  to  tell  no  class  of  people  enter- 
ing this  costly  place  of  silk  and  fine  linen  shall  be  more 
securely  rewarded  than  artists  — unless,  perhaps,  burglars. 

"  Good  cheer,  good  plays  and  good  actors  follow  the  fortunes 
of  Powers'  Theater.  There  are  two  melodious  Samoan 
words  "lesolosolou-malanga,"  which  being  transplanted  in  a 
rag-time  atmosphere  mean  "one  long  uninterrupted  picnic," 
an  outlook  I  most  devoutly  wish  may  be  enjoyed  by  the  heirs 
to  Hooley's  popularity  and  all  the  army  of  its  fidele  retainers." 

Julia  Arthur 

"It  has  always  been  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  play  in 
Hooley's  Theater.  My  first  engagement  there  was  with 
A.  M.  Palmer's  Stock  Company,  in  'The  Broken  Seal.' 
During  the  next  engagement,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  playing 
T.  B.  Aldrich's  'Mercedes,'  very  successfully.  My  last 
engagement  in  Hooley's  was  made  doubly  delightful  to  me 
because  of  the  courteous  attention  received  at  your  hands  and 
that  of  your  extremely  well  regulated  staff. 

"With  every  good  wish  for  your  complete  success,  I  hope 
that  I  shall  always  have  the  good  fortune  to  play  at  Powers' 
during  my  visits  to  Chicago." 

Felix  Morris 

"The  name  of  Hooley's  Theater  evokes  wonderfully  pleasant 
memories.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  take  part  in  most  of  the 
splendid  engagements  of  that  inimitable  comedienne,    Rosina 

n 


Vokes.  Shall  we  ever  forget  her  'Circus  Rider/  her  'Lord  in 
Livery,'  her  'Maid  Marion'  — all  produced,  for  the  first  time, 
at  Hooley's  Theater?  Never  have  we  enjoyed  more  exquisite 
drollery,  never  heartier  laughter,  never  purer  comedy,  and 
never,  I  fear,  'shall  we  look  upon  her  like  again.' 

"Incidentally,  I  may  mention  I  first  appeared  here  in 
'A  Game  of  Cards,'  and  in  this  theater  the  'Old  Musician' 
came  to  life.  His  birth  was  generously  welcomed  by  one  of 
'Hooley's'  finest  audiences. 

"With  all  good  wishes  for  your  success  and  for  a  continu- 
ance of  that  uninterrupted  prosperity  your  excellent  management 
has  always  commanded." 

J.  H.  Stoddart 

"I  sincerely  trust  that  Hooley's  Theater  reconstructed  will 
prove  as  prosperous  for  as  many  years  to  come,  as  it  has  been 
for  the  many  that  have  passed.  A  great  many  of  my  most 
pleasant  remembrances  are  associated  with  Hooley's  Theater." 

D.  H.  Harkins 

"  My  memories  of  Hooley's  Theater  are  many  and  pleasant, 
extending  as  they  do  from  the  time  of  the  great  fire. 

"When  Mr.  Daly  took  his  magnificent  company  to  play 
their  first  engagement  away  from  the  home  theater,  he  selected 
Hooley's  as  the  foremost  theater  in  the  West. 

"Many  returns  with  Daly's,  Mansfield's,  and,  last  but  by 
no  means  least,  John  Drew's  Company,  have  kept  Hooley's 
Theater  in  my*memory  green. 

"I  feel  sure,  that,  under  your  management,  the  splendid 
traditions  of  Hooley's  will  be  kept  up." 

Isabel  Irving 

"  My  recollections  of  Hooley's  Theater  are  always  pleasant, 
for  it  was   there  I  made  my  first  appearance  before  a  Chicago 


/fan    C&£u^  cAl  ■■  — 


'if  ^&&  U*{  -Utr7otru.c(  t~ 

4J    far&cf  &M<t '  -U4H*4jf' 


-gfluu^  ft 


flusl*-+ 


Si 


audience,  with  the  late  Rosina  Vokes,  to  whom  I  owe  so  much, 
as  it  was  Miss  Vokes  who  gave  me  my  first  engagement,  and 
whom  I  remember  with  the  greatest  affection  and  gratitude. 

"  I  am  so  pleased  you  are  to  assume  the  management  of 
Hooley's  Theater,  and  that  it  is  to  be  called  Powers'  Theater. 
With  best  wishes  for  success." 

W.  J.   Ferguson 

"Hooley's  Theater,  Chicago,  associated,  as  it  is,  with  the 
genial  and  courteous  Mr.  Harry  Powers,  recalls  some  of  the 
most  agreeable  reminiscences  of  my  dramatic  career.  Only 
recently  I  passed  two  entire  summers  therein,  during  the  runs 
of  'Charlie's  Aunt'  and  'The  Gay  Parisians,'  under  the 
princely  management  of  Mr.  Charles  Frohman. 

"  Since  1878  I  have  appeared  there  with  all  that  was  of  the 
best  in  art.  It  was  during  that  year  I  made  my  first  Chicago 
appearance.  Fresh  from  a  stock  experience  that  covered  some 
years  at  Wallack's  Theater,  New  York,  I  opened  at  Hooley's 
as  'Mercutio'  to  Mme.  Modjeska's  'Juliet.'  " 

Otis  Skinner 

"It  is  with  much  delight  that  I  find  myself  possessed  of  the 
privilege  of  adding  a  leaf  to  the  crown  of  your  success  as  man- 
ager of  the  historic  house  of  Hooley. 

"  Its  stage  has  many  fond  associations  for  me  as  I  look  back  to 
early  engagements  with  the  Daly  Company  and  later  ones  with 
Modjeska. 

"  The  longest  theatrical  'jump '  I  ever  made  was  from 
Hooley's  Theater  to  Toole's  Theater,  London,  with  the  Daly 
Company  on  the  occasion  of  its  first  English  visit. 

"It  was  at  Hooley's  that  I  gave  my  first  Chicago  perform- 
ance of  'Shylock.' 

"With  'more  power  to  your  guiding  arm'  and  a  hearty 
godspeed." 


83 


Francis  Wilson 

"I  knew  Uncle  'Dick'  Hooley  very  well — who  did  not? 
— and  ever  and  always  his  chief  characteristic  was  gentleness. 

''There  was  a  sweetness  of  disposition  with  the  man  that 
made  him  attractive  to  everybody.  It  is  doubtful  if  he  knew 
how  much  he  endeared  himself  to  people,  or  why.  There  was 
never  the  slightest  effort  to  force  the  note,  or  the  least  evidence 
of  self-consciousness.  Nature  had  made  him  on  a  generous, 
gentle  plan." 

Elwyn  A.  Barron 

"I've  just  learned  with  very  great  pleasure  that  you  have 
come  into  the  sole  control  of  Hooley' s,  and  that  your  name  is 
to  designate  the  renewed  and  reconstructed  theater.  Let  me 
add  my  genuine  congratulations  to  those  of  your  other  friends 
who  must,  with  me,  rejoice  in  the  honorable  and  admirable 
success  that  has  come  as  the  reward  of  your  earnest  and  manly 
devotion  to  the  interests  you  have  represented.  I  have  felt  the 
greatest  interest  in  you  ever  since  the  night  '  Uncle  Dick '  put 
his  hand  on  my  shoulder  years  ago  and  told  me  that  he  had 
promoted  you  to  a  place  in  the  ticket  office.  For  more  than 
eighteen  years  I  was  a  dramatic  critic  in  Chicago,  and  in  the 
course  of  that  time  duty  many  times  required  me  to  write 
adversely  of  different  attractions  at  your  house,  so  that  there 
may  have  been  times  when  I  was  out  of  favor  with  the  man- 
agement, temporarily ;  but  I  cannot  recall  a  single  time  of  see- 
ing you  any  less  courteous,  any  less  smiling,  than  on  the  occa- 
sions when  it  was  my  happiness  to  write  in  warm  endorsement 
of  the  Hooley  attraction.  I  have  seen  you  moving  up,  so  to 
speak,  step  by  step  without  losing  anything  whatever  of  the 
manly  modesty  that  always  had  commended  you  to  the  esteem 
of  your  patrons  and  the  press  men ;  and  I  am  sure  that  you 
will  wear  your  new  dignity  with  the  same  unaffected  manliness. 
Nothing  so  thoroughly  tests  a  man  as  prosperity,  and  that  you 

84 


85 


will  bear  the  latest  test  as  satisfactorily  as  you  have  borne 
earlier  ones  is  the  assurance  that  makes  me  so  well  pleased  that 
Harry  Powers  has  come  to  be  manager  of  his  own  theater.' ' 

E.  M.  Holland 

"Accept  my  sincere  congratulations  and  best  wishes  for  the 
success  of  the  most  delightful  and  best  managed  theater  in  Chi- 
cago. The  house  has  always  had  a  tender  place  in  my  regard, 
and  I  hope  in  the  future  to  renew  the  delightful  associations  of 
the  past." 

W.  H.  Kendal 

"We  have  the  very  happiest  remembrances  of  our  visits  to 
Chicago  and  Hooley's  Theater,  and  the  unvarying  courtesy 
and  kindness  we  at  all  times  met  with  from  your  good  self  and 
the  late  Mr.  Hooley. 

"I  cannot,  at  the  moment,  recall  any  particular  incident 
relating  to  our  Chicago  visits,  beyond  the  fact  that  it  was  at 
Hooley's  Theater  we  played  our  second  American  engagement. 

!fl  wish  you  continued  success  and  prosperity  in  your  new 
theater." 


The  Dramatic  Critic, 


H, 


THE  dramatic  critic  sustains  a 
very  close  relation  to  the 
modern  theater,  not  as 
dependent  or  stipendiary, 
but  in  his  capacity  as  connecting  link 
between  the  public  and  the  play- 
house. His  point  of  view  is  not 
always  agreeable  to  the  manager, 
whose  business  he  may  injure  by 
adverse  criticisms,  and  his  opinions 
are  not  invariably  accepted  and  en- 
dorsed by  the  public. 

But  the  anxiety  of  the  manager  to 
make  an  appeal  through  the  critical 
columns  of  important  newspapers  and 
the  evidence  on  every  hand  that 
readers  consult  even  though  they  do 
not  always  commend  those  columns, 

may    be  considered  as  proof  positive  that  the  critic  performs 
a  duty  which  is  of  decided  consequence. 

In  the  case  of  such  a  representative  playhouse  as  Powers' 
Theater,  with  its  constant  presentation  of  all  the  leading  plays 
and  players  of  the  day,  the  official  relations  of  the  critic  as  an 
intermediary  between  the  theater  and  the  public  are  especially 
intimate  and  important.  His  primary  duty  on  the  journalistic 
side  of  his  profession  is  to  chronicle  with  special  care  those 
theatrical  events  that  are  of  significance  on  account  of  novelty 
or  by  reason  of  the  distinction  of  the  artists  who  dominate  new, 

87 


THE  DAILY  NEWS 


interesting  or  famous  plays.  That  which  is  conspicuously  in 
the  public  eye  must  be  his  first  care,  since  it  is  the  function  of 
the  newspaper  to  supply  intelligence  that  will  be  of  interest  and 
value  to  its  readers. 

When  an  actor  reaches  a  recognized  stellar  condition,  either 
through  arduous  climbing  or  by  rapid  strides,  he  is  so  set  apart 
from  his  fellows  as  to  become  a  subject  of  special  consequence 
to  the  public.  His  efforts  are  suf- 
fused with  the  hue  of  distinction,  and 
while  individuals  may  sometimes  re- 
bel at  the  injustice  of  such  distinction 
and  decry  the  choice  of  subjects  which 
the  newspaper  is  compelled  to  make, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  mass  of 
readers  prefer  a  shining  mark  for  their 
literary  attention. 

Thus  the  critic,  while  he  may  feel 
and  express,  as  he  often  does,  a  sym- 
pathetic interest  for  those  who  have 
not  struggled  very  far  up  the  ladder, 
is  compelled  by  the  nature  of  his  trust 
to  devote  himself  chiefly  to  such 
dramatic  subjects  and  objects  as  will 
appeal  to  his  readers.  In  due  time 
others  who  dwell  for  the  time  being 
in  obscurity  will  come  into  the  focus, 
take  the  center  of  the  stage  and  command  his  attention,  but  the 
duty  of  the  passing  day  is  to  criticise  and  comment  upon  those 
who  through  unusual  talent,  exceptional  industry  or  special 
opportunity  have  gained  such  distinction  that  their  work  war- 
rants study  and  dissection. 

The  chief  exponents  of  the  dramatic  art  are  examples  and 
object  lessons  for  their  fellows.  Do  they  pretend  to  follow  the 
recognized  traditions  of  the  stage,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  inter- 
est to  determine  whether  they  are  accurate  in  their  concep- 
tions and  successful  in  creating  the  desired  illusions. 


fc^A^^pfTh^ 


THE   CHRONICLE 


Do  they  aim  at  originality  and  stray  away  from  those  prim- 
rose paths  that  their  elders  have  trod,  it  must,  forsooth,  be 
ascertained  how  well  the  duty  of  holding  the  mirror  up  to 
nature  is  performed  under  the  new  conditions  they  assume. 

Do  they  hold  to  tragedy,  delight  in  comedy,  wander  into 
the  fields  of  stern  realism,  possess  their  souls  in  patience  when 
the  flood  of  thesis  plays  sets  in  or  flame  out  in  romance,  imagi- 
nation and  poetry;  then,  also,  it  becomes 
a  duty  to  weigh,  analyze,  dissect  and  ulti- 
mately declare,  as  well  as  he  may,  the 
artistic  value  of  the  undertaking. 

It  is  through  such  discussions,  when 
conscientious,  intelligent,  judicial  and  based 
upon  careful  study,  that  a  proper  standard 
of  appreciation  is  set  up,  and  consequently 
the  skilled  and  experienced  writer,  subject 
to  all  human  fallibility  though  he  may,  and 
must  be,  does  not  fail  entirely  to  assist  the 
reader  and  promote  intellectual  activity. 

Since  this  is  the  function  of  the  dramatic 
critic,  aside  from  that  other  duty  of  providing 
as  much  general  information  as  occasion 
may  demand,  it  follows  that  he  is  and  must 
be,  brought  into  special  and  intimate  rela- 
tions with  those  theaters  where  great  actors 
and  fine  plays  are  most  frequently  seen. 
That  Powers'  Theater  falls  into  this  category  may  be  conceded 
without  argument,  and  while  other  playhouses  in  Chicago 
share  this  honorable  distinction,  perhaps  no  other  has  so  con- 
tinuously demanded  the  services  of  the  dramatic  critic  as  the 
house  which  R.  M.  Hooley  founded,  and  Mr.  Powers  is  now 
conducting. 

It  was  this  fact,  no  doubt,  tinged  with  the  retrospect  of 
long  friendship  and  fraternal  relations,  that  prompted  Mr. 
Powers  to  the  desire  that  the  dramatic  critics  of  Chicago  should 
occupy  at  least  a  brief  chapter  in   this   abstract  and  chronicle 


p_^hB^/Z^^6< 


EVENING  JOURNAL 


which  is  issued  in  some  measure  as  a  holiday  greeting   to  the 
patrons  of  his  famous  theater. 

The  critic,  or  at  all  events,  the  dramatic  critic  of  Chicago, 
is  not  a  spectacular  individual.  He  does  not  pose  in  the 
public  eye  or  seek  by  any  theatric  art  to  attract  personal  atten- 
tion. He  hires  no  lime  lights  to  be  thrown  upon  him  as  he 
goes  about  his  nightly  task,  engages  no  brass  band  to  attend  his 
entrances  and  exits,  seeks  to  gain  no  re- 
flected honor  from  his  acquaintance  with 
the  great  people  who  walk  the  stage,  and 
avoids  all  notoriety.  He  is  content  stu- 
diously, honestly  and  in  all  good  faith,  to 
perform  a  duty  which  enlists  his  sym- 
pathy to  the  utmost,  attempting  at  all 
times  to  gain  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  his  readers,  and  promote,  in  some 
measure,  the  interests  of  a  great  artistic 
cause. 

Constantly  advertising  others,  it  is  his 
last  thought  to  advertise  himself.  Criti- 
cising and  commending  others,  he  is  well 
aware  that  he  is  often  criticised,  but  per- 
haps seldom  commended  himself.  Yet  a 
good  conscience  is  a  panacea  for  all  such 
slings  and  arrows,  and  the  hope  of  avoid- 
ing the  errors  of  yesterday  through  the 
and  greater  intelligence  of  to-day,  is  the 
encouraging  emblem  set  in  the  sky,  by  means  of  which  he 
expects  to  get  nearer  to  truth  and  justice  to-morrow. 

This  seems  to  have  been  the  invariable  attitude  of  the 
Chicago  critic,  not  always  plainly  demonstrated,  perhaps,  for 
the  best  of  men  and  women  sometimes  fail  to  make  their  mean- 
ing clear;  but  while  his  intelligence  may  sometimes  be  called 
into  question  and  his  judgment  disputed,  his  honesty  has  never 
been  impugned.  This  is  the  vital  point  in  which  members  of 
the  craft  in  Chicago  take  special    pride.       There  have   been 

90 


fcwMzJfcy- 


EVENING   POST 


wider   experience 


scandals  elsewhere,  most  of  them  without  proper  foundation, 
but  none  at  all  in  this  city.  Since  the  somewhat  remote 
period  to  which  our  memory  may  run,  no  Chicago  critic  has 
ever  been  charged  with  venality  or  corruption.  His  pen  has 
always  been  his  own,  and  while  friendly  considerations  or 
natural  prejudices  in  favor  of  high  art  sometimes  influence  his 
opinions  and  determine  the  nature  of  his  criticisms,  no  corrupt 
motive  has  ever  been  fixed  upon  him. 

Be  his  work  effectual  or  ineffective, 
as  in  the  rush  of  newspaper  work  it  must 
be  at  times,  the  dramatic  critic  of  Chicago 
is  and  always  has  been  proudly  conscious 
of  an  honest  purpose." 

That  each  member  of  the  craft  does 
not  always  agree  with  his  fellows,  is  not, 
as  laymen  sometimes  think,  an  evidence 
either  of  ignorance  or  of  improper 
motives.  One  critic  will  consider  a  play  -^j 
from  his  own  point  of  observation,  while 
another  regards  it  from  quite  a  different 
exposure.  Qualities  appeal  to  and  fasci- 
nate some  that  do  not  impress  others. 
One  may  prefer  dramatic  roast  beef,  an- 
other toothsome  entrees,  and  a  third  the 
sweets  that  come  with  the  dessert.  It 
is  all   a  matter  of  varying  preferences, 

and  as  literary  critics  often  differ  in  their  estimates  of  a  new 
but  universally  recognized  book,  so  dramatic  critics  may  reach 
different  conclusions  in  regard  to  the  details  of  a  play  without 
justly  subjecting  themselves  to  the  assertion,  occasionally  pro- 
pounded, that  critics  never  agree  among  themselves  and  are 
consequently  broken  reeds,  not  to  be  depended  upon. 

Perhaps  if  the  argument  were  carried  forward  to  a  legiti- 
mate conclusion  it  might  appear  that  no  two  persons  of  nearly 
identical  intelligence  ever  see  precisely  the  same  beauties  or 
defects  in  any  landscape  or  in  those  glowing  works  of  art  that 

91 


HOWBERT   BILLMAN 


THE   RECORD 


hang  in  the  galleries  of  the  world.  When  the  tragic  storm 
cloud  sweeps  across  the  horizon,  punctured  by  lightning  flashes 
and  bearing  the  north  wind  in  its  fleecy  bosom,  one  awed 
beholder  will  see  pictures  in  this  great  demonstration  of  nature 
that  others  miss,  while  another,  from  his  own  point  of  view, 
discovers  other  pictures,  other  tragic  poems,  and  a  different 
inspiration;  yet  all  with  one  accord  unite  in  recognizing  the 
splendor  of  the  scene. 

Although  a  young  city,  less  given  to 
the  pursuit  of  art  and  literature  than  it 
will  be  one  of  these  days,  Chicago  can 
exhibit  for  the  past  and  in  the  present, 
quite  a  list  of  dramatic  critics,  all  of 
whom  have  found  special  food  for  reflec- 
tion and  comment  in  Hooley's  and 
Powers'  Theater.  Keeping  within  com- 
paratively recent  times,  Mr.  Jarvis, 
David  Henderson,  James  Chisholm, 
W.  K.  Sullivan,  W.  D.  Eaton,  Robert 
Peattie  and  R.  D.  Bogart  will  be  re- 
membered for  their  valiant  services. 
Others  who  took  up  the  work  and  car- 
ried it  on  with  intelligence  and  ability, 
were  C.  M.  Faye,  George  M.  McCon- 
nel,  Frank  Larned,  E.  J.  McPhelim, 
E.  A.  Barron,  Mr.  DeFoe  and  George 
Ade,  not  to  mention  several  well-schooled  gentlemen  who  have 
served  brief  ad  interim  terms.  Of  these,  many  continue  their 
pen  work,  though  in  other  departments  of  journalism  and  liter- 
ature. Mr.  Faye  holds  a  firm  and  able  hand  upon  the  lever  as 
editor  in  chief  of  the  Daily  News;  Barron,  expatriated  but  still 
faithful  to  his  mother  country  and  to  the  host  of  friends  who 
remain  on  these  shores,  is  writing  plays  and  gaining  fame  in 
England;  McConnel,  Peattie,  Larned,  Chisholm,  DeFoe  and 
Ade  are  giving  their  best  thoughts  and  abilities  to  editorial  and 
other  newspaper  writings,  while  the  others  who  once  sharp- 

92 


THE  TRIBUNE 


ened  a  ready  pencil  for  the  play  have  either  passed  over  to  the 
majority  or  are  engaged  in  business. 

One  bright  light  in  this  galaxy  was  snuffed  out  all  too  soon, 
as  those  who  remember  the  brilliant  talents  of  that  poetic  soul 
will  sadly  agree.  Edward  J.  McPhelim  flamed  out  fitfully  but 
with  no  uncertain  fire,  and  as  poet  and  critic,  illumined  the 
pages  of  a  great  newspaper  for  a  time  with  such  bits  of  word 
painting  as  might  have  come  from  one  of 
the  masterful  essayists  and  critics  of  old, 
and  then  fell  by  the  wayside,  before 
realizing  the  certain  eminence  in  store  for 
him. 

Old  friend  and  comrade,  hail  and 
farewell  !  The  rude  blasts  of  earth  were 
too  harsh,  the  problem  of  life  too  diffi- 
cult for  your  gentle  soul,  but  there  is  a 
tablet  in  our  heart  of  hearts  sweetly  en- 
twined with  the  rosemary  of  perpetual 
remembrance. 

And  what  of  to-day  !  How  shall 
this  humble  souvenir,  a  passing  tribute  to 
a  great  and  historic  theater,  speak  of 
those  who  now  act  their  part  as  dramatic 
reviewers  for  the  Chicago  press  ? 

It  is  a  saying  and  a  belief  that  no  ade- 
quate perspective  nor  fair  conclusion  in  re- 
gard to  any  man's  capacity  or  labors  can  be  obtained  until  he 
has  passed  away.  His  just  honors,  together  with  the  insurance 
money  must  be  enjoyed  and  monopolized  by  others  after  he 
has  entered  that  undiscovered  country  where  the  wicked  cease 
from  troubling.  But  happily  it  is  not  a  necessity  of  the 
moment,  nor  any  part  of  the  present  purpose,  to  describe  at 
length,  justly  praise  or  criticise  the  critics  who  are  now  serving 
the  Chicago  newspapers  with  all  of  their  ability. 

One  of  the  number,  however,  who  is  proud  of  his  associates 
and  delights  in  their  friendship,  may,  not  only  as  an  impulse  of 

93 


INTER  OCEAN 


his  own  affection,  but  also  impelled  by  the  kindly  desire  of 
Mr.  Powers,  devote  a  few  lines  to  a  friendly  introduction. 
Having  spoken  for  themselves  so  well  and  projected  their  own 
individuality  into  columns  that  have  addressed  an  innumerable 
congregation  every  morning,  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak  in  detail 
of  their  literary  style  and  manner  of  thought. 

Of  the  eight  critics  representing  the  important  daily  papers 
of  Chicago,  one  is  a  lady,  Miss  Amy 
Leslie,  feuilletonist  and  critic  of  the  Daily 
News,  and  her  professional  associates,  all 
of  the  sterner  sex,  have  singled  her  out 
for  special  regard  not  only  in  consequence 
of  those  brilliant  talents  she  displays,  but 
for  the  additional  reason  that  by  the 
unaffected  arts  of  friendship  and  good 
fellowship  she  has  won  their  sincere 
affection.  Commanding  all  the  resources 
of  the  English  language  and  possessing 
the  natural  bouyancy  and  high  spirits  of 
an  enthusiast,  Miss  Leslie  is  a  most 
delightful  and  always  interesting  extrem- 
ist. Half  measures  of  praise  or  blame 
are  not  for  her,  and  thus  her  trenchant 
pen  carries  great  delight  to  those  who 
win  her  favor,  and  corresponding  terror 
to  others  less  fortunate.  But  in  all  literary 
moods  she  is  brilliant  and  interesting,  and  to  the  readers 
of  the  Daily  News  whose  name  is  legion,  the  column  bearing 
her  familiar  and  famous  signature  is  a  source  of  unfailing  profit 
and  pleasure.  Equally  at  home  in  the  discussion  of  dramatic, 
musical  and  literary  topics,  she  adorns  whatever  her  bright 
fancy  plays  upon  and  with  an  infinite  variety  of  word  painting 
allures  and  fascinates  the  reader. 

Taken  at  random  and  with  no  thought  of  precedence,  the 
other  members  of  the  corps  dramatic  pass  in  mental  review,  each 
man  bearing  the  stamp  of  his  own  individuality.      Charles  E. 

94 


&&L 


TIMES -HERALD 


Nixon,  the  Inter  Ocean  writer,  served  a  long  term  as  musical 
editor  of  that  journal,  and  when  Elwyn  A.  Barron  went  away 
was  made  dramatic  critic  as  well.  Genial,  whole  souled  and 
indefatigable  in  his  labors,  Mr.  Nixon  justly  sustains  a  reputa- 
tion as  everybody's  friend.  Cordial  and  conscientious  to  a 
degree,  he  writes  with  extreme  care  and  labors,  above  all,  to  do 
justice  and  properly  represent 
the  subject  of  his  comments. 
No  other  member  of  the  craft 
is  more  kindly  regarded  by  his 
fellows,  or  more  respected  by 
the  theatrical  guild.  His  dispo- 
sition is  so  pacific  that  no  con- 
tentious grit  ever  flows  from  his 
pen,  but  he  reflects  justly  and 
admirably  the  best  dramatic  in- 
terests of  the  day. 

Hepburn  Johns,  the  dra- 
matic and  musical  critic  of  the 
Chronicle,  possesses  all  the 
manly  qualities  of  the  English- 
man, for  he  was  born  across 
seas,  fused  with  the  more  re- 
sponsive manner  of  the  good 
American  citizen  which  he  now 
is.  An  ardent  lover  and  student 
of  the  drama,  he  has  enjoyed  a 
wide  experience  in  theatrical 
affairs,  and  is  so  animated  by  a 
sense  of  justice  that  his  criticisms  bear  the  impress]of  authority  and 
genial  good  sense.  With  a  light  touch  and  an  agreeable  play  of 
humorous  fancy,  he  plunges  into  many  happy  dissections  of 
plays  and  players,  never  indulging,  however,  in  a  censorious 
tone  or  seeking  to  inflict  unnecessary  wounds.  A  man  of  many 
friendships  in  the  dramatic  profession  he  nevertheless  permits 
no  personal  consideration  to  bias  his  views,  but  firmly  adheres 

95 


to  the  theory  that  the  critic  who  serves  his  readers  most  faith- 
fully is  the  best  friend  of  actor  and  manager. 

D.  M.  Halbert,  one  of  the  young  and  growing  critics  of  the 
West,  has  gained  and  sustained  respectful  consideration  for  the 
column  over  which  he  presides  in  the  Evening  Post.      Having 

enjoyed  a  liberal  education,  and 
possessing  a  thoughtful  and 
scholarly  disposition,  all  of  his 
work  is  studious  and  refined. 
His  evident  determination  in 
every  case  is  to  get  at  the  bot- 
tom facts  and  present  them,  to- 
gether with  his  conclusions,  in 
a  dignified,  coherent  and  logical 
manner.  For  all  that  is  gross 
and  inartistic  in  plays,  or  among 
the  players,  he  entertains  the  ut- 
most abhorrence,  and  possessing 
high  ideals  and  excellent  taste 
his  judgment  is  developing  along 
the  best  lines  of  dramatic  thought, 
while  his  personal  charms  are 
recognized  by  all  who  know 
him  well. 

H.  J.  Whigham,  the  Trib- 
une critic,  is  a  Scotchman  by 
birth,  and  possesses  the  charac- 
teristic firmness,  determination 
and  good  sense  of  a  race  that  has 
made  a  distinct  mark  for  itself 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  He  also  exhibits  genial  personal 
qualities  not  always  associated  with  those  who  come  from 
old  Scotland,  and  during  his  comparatively  brief  service  as 
dramatic  critic  has  gained  many  friends.  The  qualities  that 
enable  him  to  excel  in  golf  and  win  national  honors,  are  being 
reflected  in  his  newspaper  work,  which  is  always  vigorous  and 

96 


driving.  An  educated,  well  schooled  and  well  read  man,  he  is 
a  recognized  addition  to  the  critical  corps  in  Chicago,  and 
enjoys  the  high  esteem  of  his  fellows. 

James  O'Donnell  Bennett  is  critic  for  the  Evening  Journal, 
and  his  familiar  signature  is  an  endorsement  that  always  bears 
assurance  of  an  interesting  bit  of 
writing  good  in  any  bank  where 
sentiment  counts.  Young,  but 
to  the  manner  born,  his  sincer- 
ity and  genuine  feeling  are  so 
distinctly  felt  in  every  article, 
that  his  work  is  followed  with 
unceasing  interest  and  admira- 
tion. A  picturesque  individual 
style  marks  all  of  his  writing, 
together  with  an  irresistible  en- 
thusiasm which  will  be  steadied 
one  of  these  days  by  judicial 
temper.  Mr.  Bennett's  sincere 
and  lovable  disposition  has  en- 
deared him  to  all  his  associ- 
ates, who  agree  with  the  public 
that  he  is  worth  reading. 

Howbert  Billman  is  the  pains- 
taking and  efficient  critic  of  the 
Daily  Record,  and  enjoys  the 
distinction,  jointly  with  Mr. 
Whigham  and  Mr.  Bennett,  of 
an  exciting  war  experience  dur- 
ing the  heat  of  our  difficulties 
with  Spain.  As  correspondent  he  performed  valiant  service, 
and  then  returned  to  resume  the  post  of  dramatic  critic,  which 
he  had  inherited  from  George  Ade,  the  genial  story-teller, 
who  abandoned  the  drama  for  another  form  of  fiction.  Mr. 
Billman,  with  an  experience  gained  through  service  with  the 
Journal   and  the  Tribune,  is  an  able   chronicler    of   dramatic 

97 


ioUtfct 


events.  Industrious,  reliable,  and  with  a  quick  appreciation 
of  the  salient  points  in  any  dramatic  composition,  he  deserves 
and  enjoys  the  confidence  of  readers  and  the  personal  esteem 
of  many  friends. 

Only  one  remains  to  complete  the  list,  and  of  him  it  may 
only  be  said  that  he  is  proud  to  figure  in  such  good  company. 

The  dramatic  critic  is,  not  unlike  other  men,  subject  to 
infirmities  of  health  and  temper.  Care  preys  upon  him  at 
times,  and  annoyances  ruffle  his  temper  or  disturb  that  equipoise 
necessary  to  a  judicial  spirit.  And  then  his  work  must  be 
done  under  a  most  intolerable  pressure  of  haste.  The  presses 
yawn  for  his  work  scarcely  more  than  an  hour  after  the  theater 
closes,  and  the  work  to  which  the  magazine  writer  devotes  per- 
haps several  days  the  critic  must  perform  as  best  he  may  in  a 
period  almost  too  brief  for  the  mechanical  labor  of  writing, 
leaving  no  margin  for  careful  thought.  Hurried  in  the  prepara- 
tion, errors  will  creep  in  and  unhappy  omissions  occur,  and  then 
the  composition,  with  all  its  imperfections,  must  run  the  gauntlet 
of  worn  and  weary  compositors  and  proofreaders,  who  cannot 
always  guess  the  meaning  buried  in  unsightly  hieroglyphics. 
Small  wonder  then  that  the  next  morning  hour,  with  newspaper 
in  hand,  is  often  a  season  of  greater  torture  for  the  critic  than  for 
the  player  he  has  excoriated.  Small  wonder  indeed  that  the 
sins  of  omission  and  commission  are  not  graver  and  more 
deadly!  Wherefore,  dear  reader,  visit  some  Christian  charity 
upon  the  critic  when  his  views  do  not  meet  with  your  approval, 
and  above  all  believe  him  quite  honest  however  mistaken  he 
may  be. 


tf 


The  Theaters  of  Chicago. 

"A  Brief  Chronicle  and  Abstract." 

Rice's  First  Theater. — The  real  beginning  of  theatrical 
history  in  Chicago  was  made  by  J.  B.  Rice,  who  erected  and 
dedicated,  June  28,  1847,  the  first  theater  building  constructed 
in  Chicago.  It  was  erected  on  the  south  side  of  Randolph 
Street,  50  feet  east  of  Dearborn,  and  was  opened  by  a  stock 
company,  in  "The  Four  Sisters."  The  company  included 
Mrs.  Hunt,  afterwards  Mrs.  John  Drew,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  B. 
Rice  and  Dan  Marble.  On  May  2,  1848,  J.  H.  McVicker 
made  his  first  appearance,  the  farce  being  "  My  Neighbor's 
Wife."  Edwin  Forrest  and  Junius  Brutus  Booth  were  among 
the  attractions  of  that  year.  The  theater  burned  July  30, 
1850,  during  a  performance  of  "La  Somnambula,"  and  it  is 
stated  that  Mr.  McVicker  was  on  the  stage  when  the  alarm 
was  given. 

Rice's  Second  Theater. — On  February  3,  1851,  Mr. 
Rice  opened  his  second  theater,  which  was  built  of  brick  at  a 
cost  of  $11,000,  on  Dearborn  Street,  between  Randolph  and 
Washington.  With  a  frontage  of  80  feet  and  many  improve- 
ments and  conveniences,  it  was  regarded  as  a  great  step  in 
advance  and  was  destined  to  be  the  home  of  the  drama  in  Chi- 
cago for  six  years,  during  which  period  all  the  important  stars 
of  that  early  day  visited  the  city,  which  at  that  time  boasted  a 
population  of  less  than  5,000  souls.  The  theater  was  opened 
on  the  evening  already  mentioned.  The  stock  company  joined 
first  in  singing  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner"  and  then  presented 

99 


a  triple  bill:  "Love  in  Humble  Life,"  "Captain  of  the 
Watch,' '  and  "The  Dumb  Belle."  It  was  transformed  into 
a  business  house  in  1861,  having  outlived  its  usefulness  by 
several  years. 

National  Theater,  south  side  of  Monroe  near  Wells. — 
At  first  North's  Amphitheater  opened  in  1856  with  a  stock 
company,  including  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  Thorne,  L.  Mestayer 
and  W.  F.  Johnson.  Subsequently  J.  H.  Wallack,  Dion 
Boucicault,  Agnes  Robertson,  Maggie  Mitchell,  and  the 
comedian  Burton  appeared  at  this  house,  which  fell  into  decay 
in  1859,  an^  in  1864  was  demolished  to  make  room  for  a 
business  block. 

McVicker's  Theater. — James  H.  McVicker  built  his  first 
theater  upon  the  spot  ever  since  identified  with  his  name  in 
1857,  at  a  cost  of  $85,000.      It  was   opened  November  5, 

1857,  by  a  stock  company  in  "The  Honeymoon"  and  "The 
Rough  Diamond. ' '      Edwin  Booth  first  appeared  here  May  3 1 , 

1858,  playing  "A  New  Way  to  Pay  Old  Debts,"  followed 
by  "Richelieu,"  "Brutus"  and  "Richard  III."  Sothern 
first  appeared  herein  1861.  J.  H.  Hackett,  1863.  Lotta, 
1864.  Charles  Kean,  1865.  Mrs.  Siddons,  1869,  and 
other  noted  actors  of  the  day  at  intervals.  The  theater  was 
rebuilt  in  1871,  after  having  been  remodeled  in  1864,  at  a  cost 
of  $90,000,  and  reopened  August  29  with  "Extremes."  A 
play  called  "Elfia"  was  running  when  the  house  was 
destroyed  in  the  great  fire  of  October  9,  1871.  The  theater 
was  rebuilt  at  a  cost  of  $200,000  and  reopened  August  15, 
1872,  with  Douglas  Jerrold's  "Time  Works  Wonders." 
This  building  served  until  1885,  when  it  was  remodeled  at  a 
cost  of  $145,000.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  August  26,  1890, 
during  the  run  of  "Shenandoah,"  and  when  rebuilt  was 
reopened  March  31,  1892,  with  the  Jefferson-Florence  Com- 
pany in  "The  Rivals."  The  lease  of  the  theater  fell  to  Jacob 
Litt,  May  1,  1898,  for  a  term  of  ten  years. 


Wood's  Museum,  at  first  Aiken's,  111-117  Randolph 
Street,  Kingsbury  Hall  site. — Opened  August  17,  1863,  with 
curiosities.  November,  1863,  the  new  stage  was  dedicated 
by  the  Holman  Opera  Company  in  the  "Bohemian  Girl." 
The  "Lady  of  Lyons"  was  the  first  play,  given  in  December. 
When  burned  in  1871  "Divorce"  was  running.  Was 
bought  by  C.  J.  H.  Wood,  January,  1864.  A  stock  com- 
pany was  organized  at  this  house  in  1 869,  including  McKee 
Rankin,  M.  V.  Lingham,  J.  W.  Jennings,  A.  D.  Bradley,  J. 
D.  Germon,  May  Howard,  Katy  Fletcher  and  Anna  Marble. 

Crosby's  Opera  House. — Finished  in  1865  at  a  cost  of 
$600,000,  and  opened  April  20th  by  J.  Graus  Italian  Opera 
Company  in  "II  Trovatore,"  Clara  Louise  Kellogg  prima 
donna.  The  location  was  on  the  north  side  of  Washington 
Street,  between  State  and  Dearborn.  Refitted  in  1871  at  a 
cost  of  $80,000*,  and  was  to  have  reopened  October  9th  with 
the  Theodore  Thomas  Orchestra,  Maria  Krebs  pianist  and 
Bernhard  Listemann  violinist,  but  was  destroyed  by  the  great 
fire  on  that  date  and  never  rebuilt. 

Bryan  Hall,  Clark  Street,  the  site  of  present  Grand  Opera 
House,  was  built  in  i860,  and  devoted  to  concerts,  conven- 
tions and  miscellaneous  entertainments. 

Hooley's  Opera  House. — Bryan  Hall  was  secured  by 
R.  M.  Hooley  in  1870,  and  transformed  into  a  handsome  thea- 
ter called  Hooley's  Opera  House.  Opened  January  2,  1871, 
by  Hooley's  Minstrels,  and  devoted  to  varied  entertainments. 
For  the  week  of  October  9,  1871,  Giacomatti's  tragedy 
"Elizabeth,"  with  Mrs.  Lander,  was  announced,  but  the 
building  was  swept  away  by  the  big  fire. 

In  August,  1 871,  prior  to  the  fire,  Mr.  Hooley  associated 
himself  with  Frank  E.  Aiken,  and  engaged  a  regular  dramatic 
stock  company  for  his  Clark  Street  opera  house.      This  organiza- 


tion  included  Frank  E.  Aiken,  J.  H.  Fitzpatrick,  Frank  Lawler, 
M.  C.  Daly,  J.  R.  Vincent,  S.  L.  Knapp,  George  A.  Archer, 
Harry  Gilbert,  David  Osborn,  J.  C.  Morrison,  Augusta  Dargon, 
Fanny  Burt,  Lizzie  Herbert,  Annie  Champion,  Mrs.  M.  C. 
Daly,  Belle  Remick,  Lizzie  Osborne,  Kate  and  Anna  Tyson. 
Various  plays  were  produced  during  the  brief  life  of  the  com- 
pany, the  first  being  "The  Two  Thorns." 

Aiken's  Theater  (afterwards  the  Dearborn  Theater,  at  1 1  5 
and  117  Dearborn  Street),  opened  January  18,  1869,  with  a 
stock  company  in  "Cyril's  Success."  Transformed  into  the 
Dearborn  August,  1  869,  it  was  occupied  by  Emerson  &  Man- 
ning's Minstrels,  and  subsequently  by  other  attractions,  includ- 
ing German  opera,  Charles  Wyndham  and  other  notable  attrac- 
tions. For  the  week  of  October  9,  1871,  the  Dearborn 
Minstrels  had  announced  a  burlesque  on  "Love  and  War." 
The  house  was  not  rebuilt  after  the  fire. 

First  Academy  of  Music,  i  24  Washington  Street,  opened 
December  1,  1863.  Arlington,  Kelly  &  Co.'s  Minstrels. 
Afterwards  Campbell  &  Castle's  English  Opera. 

First  Olympic,  corner  Clark  and  Monroe,  July  13,  1868. 
Arlington's  Minstrels. 

The  Globe,  Desplaines  Street. — Opened  November  21, 
1870,  by  a  stock  company  in  "The  Rivals."  Subsequently 
John  Dillon,  Oliver  Doud  Byron  and  others  played  here.  It 
was  the  only  theater  surviving  the  fire. 

Academy  of  Music,  Halsted  Street,  near  Madison. — Built 
by  W.  B.  Clapp.  Opened  January  10,  1872,  by  the  Wyndham 
Comedy  Company  in  "Ours."  Lucille  Western,  Aimee, 
Chanfrau,  Edwin  Adams,  the  Vokes  Family,  Sothern,  Mc- 
Cullough,  Toole,  Jefferson,  and  many  other  notables,  played 

103 


here  during  the  period  of  rebuilding  the  city.  Destroyed  by- 
fire  February  4,  1878.  Rebuilt  and  reopened  September  15, 
1879,  by  William  Emmett  as  a  dramatic  and  variety  house. 
Again  burnt  out  October  12,  1880.  Rebuilt  and  reopened 
December  20th  the  same  year  by  Stetson's  "  Neck  and  Neck." 
Dan  Shelby  assumed  management  in  1882;  H.  R.  Jacobs  in 
1888,  continuing  until  1897;  when  E.  P.  Simpson  became 
manager. 

Hooley's  Theater. — Built  on  Randolph  Street  site  and 
opened  October  17,  1872,  with  the  Abbott-Kiralfy  Company. 
Was  the  second  down-town  theater  opened  after  the  fire.  In 
1876  and  yjj  it  was  known  as  Haverly's,  and  then  restored  to 
the  firm  of  Hooley  &  Quinlan,  and  subsequently  to  R.  M. 
Hooley,  who  was  exclusive  manager  up  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
September,  1893.  May  1,  1898,  passed  from  the  control  0/ 
the  Hooley  estate  on  a  ten-years'  lease  to  Harry  J.  Powers, 
who  was  forbidden  to  use  the  name  of  Hooley  except  for  an 
extraordinary  and  prohibitive  bonus,  and  consequently,  under 
the  advice  of  friends,  changed  the  name  to  Powers'  Theater, 
and  opened  under  that  name  after  complete  reconstruction 
August  22,  1898,  with  Clyde  Fitch's  play  "The  Moth  and 
the  Flame,"  played  by  Herbert  Kelcey  and  Effie  Shannon. 

Aiken's  Theater  (the  Second). — Built  at  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  Wabash  Avenue  and  Congress  Street,  and  opened  Octo- 
ber 7,  1872,  the  anniversary  of  the  big  fire,  with  the  Theo- 
dore Thomas  orchestra.  It  was  a  failure,  and  after  a  time  was 
rechristened  the  Adelphi,  and  conducted  as  a  variety  house  by 
Leonard  Grover.  It  burned  in  the  second  big  fire,  July  14, 
1874,  and  was  not  rebuilt. 

The  stock  company  organized  for  Aiken's  Theater  included 
Frank  Lawler,  Milton  Nobles,  F.  R.  Pierce,  George  Reed,  C. 
R.  Graves,  W.  C.  Crosbie,  Charles  Rogers,  H.  B.  Howland, 
A.  M.  Clark,  J.  Cline,  Miss  Anna  Lonergan,  Miss  Emma 
Maddern,    Miss    Ada   Gilman,    Mrs.    Clara  Maeder,    Mrs. 

104 


io5 


Charles  Hill,  Miss  Mollie  Maeder,  Miss  Belle  Remick  and 
others.  The  season  was  a  total  failure,  and  the  company  soon 
fell  apart. 

The  New  Adelphi,  afterwards  Haverly's. — The  walls  of 
the  old  postoffice  building,  left  standing  after  the  great  fire,  on 
the  corner  of  Dearborn  and  Monroe  Streets,  were  utilized  as  the 
shell  of  a  theater  called  by  this  name,  and  opened  January  1 1, 
1875,  with  burlesque,  under  the  direction  of  Leonard  Grover. 
Reconstructed  in  1878,  it  was  reopened  by  J.  H.  Haverly 
under  the  name  of  Haverly's  Theater,  August  4,  1878,  with 
the  Colville  Folly  Company  in  "The  Babes  in  the  Wood," 
and  was  used  for  general  theatrical  purposes  until  1880,  when 
demolished  to  make  way  for  the  First  National  Bank  building. 

Columbia  Theater,  known  for  four  years  as  Haverly's 
Theater,  south  side  of  Monroe  Street  between  Dearborn  and 
Clark  Streets. — Managed  by  J.  H.  Haverly  and  then  C.  H. 
McConnell.  Name  changed  to  Columbia  in  1885,  during 
Irving  engagement,  Ellen  Terry  officiating  at  the  ceremony. 
Reconstructed  by  J.  D.  Carson  and  reopened  October  1,  1888, 
by  the  Duff  Comic  Opera  Company  in  the  "Queen's  Mate." 
Leased  by  Al.  Hayman  and  W.  J.  Davis  in  1890,  and  con- 
ducted by  them  since  that  time  as  a  high  class  combination  house. 
Their  opening  was  with  the  "  County  Fair,"  August  24,  1890, 
since  which  time  the  Columbia  has  become  one  of  the  most 
noted  theaters  in  the  United  States. 

Grand  Opera  House,  on  the  site  of  Bryan  Hall,  Hooley's 
Opera  House,  the  Coliseum  and  Hamlin's  Theater. — Rebuilt 
in  its  present  form  in  1880  by  Wm.  Borden  at  a  cost  of 
$55,000,  and  leased  to  J.  H.  Hamlin.  Opened  September, 
1880,  by  Hoey  &  Hardy  with  "A  Child  of  the  State." 
Continuously  managed  since  that  time  by  the  Hamlins,  and 
now  owned  by  them. 

106 


The  Bijou,  formerly  The  Standard,  corner  of  Jackson  and 
Halsted  Streets. — Built  by  C  J.  Whitney,  of  Detroit.  Opened 
December  31,  1883,  by  Fay  Templeton  in  "  Girofle  Girofla." 
Variously  occupied  until  1897,  when  it  was  renamed  "The 
Bijou"  and  devoted  to  popular  melodramas. 

Chicago  Opera  House,  corner  Washington  and  Clark 
Streets. — Opened  August  18,  1885,  by  John  W.  Norton  & 
Co.,  David  Henderson,  manager.  The  attraction  being  Tom 
Keene  in  "Richard  III."  For  a  little  more  than  ten  years 
under  the  same  management,  the  house  was  leased  December 
22,  1895,  by  Kohl  &  Castle,  and  devoted  first  to  combinations 
and  to  continuous  vaudeville.  It  was  opened  under  this  man- 
agement by  Eddy  Foy  in  "Little  Robinson  Crusoe.3 


>> 


The  Auditorium. — Built  by  the  Auditorium  Association. 
Dedicated  Monday  evening,  December  9,  1889,  by  a  special 
programme,  of  which  Adelina  Patti  was  the  bright  particular 
star.  Clarence  Eddy,  and  the  Apollo  Club  appeared,  and 
there  were  addresses  by  Mayor  Cregier,  Hon.  John  S.  Run- 
nells,  Ferd  W.  Peck  and  Governor  Fifer.  On  the  next  even- 
ing the  Abbey  &  Grau  Company  gave  "Romeo  and  Juliet," 
with  Patti  as  Juliet,  and  Tamagno  followed  on  the  next  night 
in  "William  Tell."  Milward  Adams  has  managed  this  opera 
house,  one  of  the  greatest  in  the  world,  from  the  opening  until 
the  present  time. 

Clark  Street  Theater,  North  Clark  and  Michigan  Streets, 
opened  October  27,  1889,  by  H.  R.  Jacobs,  with  "Said 
Pasha"  by  the  California  Opera  Company. 

The  Lincoln  Theater,  formerly  Windsor,  Clark  and 
Division  Streets,  was  opened  September  26,  1886,  under  the 
management  of  Philip  H.  Lehnen,  with  the  Redmond-Barry 
Company  in  "A  Cure  for  the  Blues."      Burned  April,  1889. 

107 


Rebuilt  and  reopened  October,  1889,  under  the  direction  of 
M.  B.  Leavitt.  Leased  to  James  S.  Hutton,  August  26, 
1894,  and  name  changed  to  Lincoln  Theater,  the  opening 
attraction  being  Gustave  Frohman's  "Charity  Ball"  Company. 
Burned  again  December,  1898. 

Havlin' s  Theater,  formerly  Baker's,  opened  November  6, 
1888,  with  "The  Pearl  of  Pekin."  Leased  to  J.  H.  Havlin 
May  27,  1889,  and  the  name  changed  to  Havlin's.  The 
opening  attraction  under  this  management  was  May  27,  1889, 
with  the  first  American  production  of  Lecocq's  comic  opera 
"La  Jolie  Parisienne. "  After  a  number  of  years  during 
which  the  theater  was  managed  with  great  ability  by  James  S. 
Hutton,  Mr.  Havlin  relinquished  the  lease  and  the  theater 
under  various  names  was  the  scene  of  many  failures.  On 
August  15,  1898,  the  house  was  reopened  by  Will  H.  Barry, 
who  changed  the  name  to  the  New  Adelphi. 

The  Haymarket,  Madison  Street  near  Halsted.  —  The 
doors  were  thrown  open  under  the  management  of  William  J. 
Davis,  December  24,  1887,  the  attraction  being  Thomas 
Keene  in  "Richard  III."  The  house  prospered  greatly  under 
this  management  for  nearly  ten  years.  Mr.  Davis  relinquish- 
ing the  control  December  5,  1896,  when  the  theater  passed 
under  the  control  of  Kohl  &  Castle,  who  have  since  devoted 
it  to  continuous  vaudeville  of  the  best  class,  with  Jay  Rial  as 
the  active  manager. 

The  Alhambra,  State  Street  and  Archer  Avenue,  H.  R. 
Jacobs,  manager. — Was  dedicated  September  1,  1890,  by  the 
Emma  Juch  Grand  English  Opera  Company  in  "  Faust. " 
Mr.  Jacobs  retained  the  management  until  April,  1  897,  when 
W.  H.  Barry  became  manager  and  conducted  the  theater  until 
June,  1898,  when  James  S.  Hutton  of  the  Lincoln  Theater 
obtained  the  lease  and  reopened  the  theater  August,  1898. 

108 


v7^2^gk^ 


J^&rtte^ 


109 


Schiller  Theater  (now  Dearborn). — Built  by  the  German 
Opera  House  Company,  and  opened  under  the  direction  of 
Anson  Temple,  October  17,  1892,  by  Charles  Frohman's 
Company  in  "  Gloriana."  Subsequently  managed  by  Thos. 
W.  Prior,  Ira  J.  La  Motte,  David  Henderson,  Robert  Blei,  R. 
C.  Gardner,  E.  L.  Webster,  Geo.  A.  Fair  and  Gustav 
Luders.  September  4,  1898,  this  theater  was  rechristened 
The  Dearborn  by  the  Tri-State  Amusement  Company,  and 
reopened  under  the  business  management  of  J.  J.  Brady,  with 
a  stock  company  in  "Too  Much  Johnson,"  supplemented  by 
vaudeville. 

Great  Northern  Theater. — Opened  November  9,  1896, 
by  A.  M.  Palmer,  with  Henry  Miller  in  "  Heartsease." 
Subsequently  managed  by  the  Hopkins-Thayer  Hight  Com- 
pany and  David  Henderson,  the  latter  taking  possession  No- 
vember, 1897,  and  relinquishing  the  house  June  25,  1898. 
Reopened  August  27,  1898,  as  a  vaudeville  house  by  Salisbury 
&  Tate. 

Hopkins'  Theater,  formerly  the  People's,  was  built  by 
Jonathan  Clark  and  opened  by  Joseph  Bayliss,  October  1, 
1884,  with  Robert  Graham  in  "Wanted  a  Partner."  After 
some  years  the  house  fell  into  disuse  despite  the  efforts  of  vari- 
ous managers  to  revive  it.  In  1 894  it  was  leased  by  the  Tri- 
State  Amusement  Company,  and  opened  as  Hopkins'  Theater 
under  the  immediate  management  of  Col.  J.  H.  Hopkins,  who 
catered  drama  and  vaudeville  in  a  most  successful  manner. 
September  4,  1898,  Hopkins  became  sole  lessee,  and  reopened 
with  "Trilby,"  given  by  his  regular  stock  company. 

Myers'  Opera  House. — In  the  building  on  Monroe  Street, 
long  identified  with  Chapin  &  Gore,  Samuel  Myers,  formerly 
connected  with  McVicker,  constructed  a  theater  which  was 
opened    September    23,     1872,    and   devoted  for  some  years 


chiefly  to  minstrelsy.  Nearly  all  the  prominent  minstrels 
played  there  during  the  few  years  that  this  house  was  in 
existence. 

The  Olympic  Theater,  formerly  the  New  Chicago,  built 
upon  the  site  of  old  Kingsbury  Hall.  Reconstructed  and  re- 
opened under  the  management  of  J.  H.  McVicker,  August, 
1875,  Thos.  A.  Hall  managing,  with  a  stock  company  includ- 
ing Louis  James,  Thomas  Whiffen,  Harry  Lee,  W.  B.  Chip- 
pendale, Helen  Tracy  and  Ada  Gilman.  The  opening  play 
was  "Apple  Blossoms,"  but  the  venture  was  not  successful. 
The  house  was  devoted  to  various  uses  until  it  was  leased  May, 
1885,  to  Kohl  &  Middleton,  who  called  it  the  New  Olympic, 
opened  with  Laura  Dainty  in  "A  Mountain  Pink,"  and  have 
conducted  it  ever  since  as  a  variety  house,  with  George  Castle 
as  manager.      In  1  896  the  house  was  rebuilt. 


Who   Did    It. 

THE  New  Powers'  Theater  is  believed  to  be  a  model 
house  for  theatrical  use.  The  official  Inspector  of 
Buildings  for  the  city  of  Chicago  has  placed  his 
stamp  of  approval  upon  it.  The  department  of 
electricity  certifies  the  perfection  of  one  important  feature, 
critics  have  pronounced  the  decorations  and  the  furnishings  a 
symphony  of  tasteful  art,  and  last,  but  most  important  of  all, 
the  public  expresses  so  much  satisfaction  with  the  work  that 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  complete  success.  That  such  a 
transformation  from  the  old  Hooky' s  to  the  New  Powers' 
could  be  effected  in  the  short  period  of  nine  weeks  is  a  marvel 
to  all  who  understand  how  radical  the  changes  were,  and  it  is 
only  fair  that  those  who  brought  about  this  reconstruction  under 
such  a  speed  pressure  should  be  given  credit  for  their  effective 
work.  First  upon  the  roll  of  honor  must  be  placed  the  archi- 
tects, Messrs.  Wilson  &  Marshall,  who  devised  all  the  archi- 
tectural changes,  designed  the  new  boxes  and  proscenium,  and 
superintended  all  of  the  work  with  so  much  energy  and  enthu- 
siasm that  all  difficulties  melted  away,  and  the  drama  of  recon- 
struction was  brought  promptly  to  a  happy  climax.  The 
decorations  and  paintings  were  done  by  the  W.  P.  Nelson 
Company,  whose  skilled  artist  and  general  designer  is  respon- 
sible for  the  mural  paintings  that  have  been  so  much  admired. 
And  then  to  these  many  others  credit  must  be  given  for  their 
admirable  work: 

Mr.  George  Messersmith,  General  Contractor. 
Mr.  W.  D.  Kent,  outside  iron    stairways,  pronounced  by 
Chief  Swenie  the  best  he  ever  saw. 

112 


1  ^S^c^Z^t**--^ 


"3 


Mr.  E.  Baggot,  sewerage  and  sanitary  plumbing. 

Plumbers*  supplies  in  dressing  and  toilet  rooms,  by  J.  B. 
Clow  &  Sons. 

Chicago  Edison  Company,  electric  switch  board,  and  elec- 
trical wiring  in  the  latest  improved  iron  conduits,  pronounced  by 
electrical  experts  as  the  best  and  safest  insulation  ever  put  into 
a  theater. 

Opera  chairs  by  A.  H.  Andrews  &  Co. 

Ornamental  compo,  stucco  and  relief  work  by  Decorators' 
Supply  Company. 

Carpets  and  draperies  by  Chicago  Carpet  Company. 

Terra  Blanco  fire-proofing  in  dressing  rooms  and  stage  by 
Terra  Blanco  Company.  Mr.  F.  W.  Blockie  superintended  the 
fire-proofing. 

Iron  front  and  canopy  by  Chicago  Architectural  Iron 
Works. 

Entire  theater  plastered  on  wire  late  by  McNulty  Bros. 

The  asbestos  curtain  is  by  F.  B.  McGreer,  Scenic  Artist 
of  Powers'  theater. 

Steam  heating,  by  Mr.  Simmons. 

Iron  shutters  and  sheet  iron  shelves  in  dressing  rooms  by 
Mr.  Ricketts. 

Marble  wainscoting  by  Frank  Henry. 

Marble  floors  by  Keating  Sons  &  Co. 

Chandeliers  and  electrical  fixtures  from  T.  W.  Wilmarth 
&  Co.,  Mr.  J.  N.  Dimmery,  President. 

Decorative  mosaic  work  in  exterior  by  Hawes  &  Dodd. 


114 


Sound  Endorsements 

DEPARTMENT  OF  BUILDINGS, 
City  of  Chicago. 
James  McAndrews,  Commissioner. 
T.  O'Shea,  Deputy  Commissioner. 

William  J.  McAllister,  Secretary. 

Chicago,  August  25,  1898. 
Mr.  Harry  J.  Powers,  Mngr.  Powers'  New  Theater,  Chicago,  111. 

Dear  Sir:  After  careful  examination  of  your  new  theater,  I  have  no  hes- 
itancy in  saying  that  the  changes  you  have  made  from  the  old  building  are 
simply  marvelous.  The  25  exits  (apportioned  as  follows:  Gallery  9,  balcony 
10,  and  lower  floor  6,  which  lead  to  Randolph  Street  and  the  open  court  on 
the  east,  and  alleys  on  the  west  and  north  of  your  auditorium  proper)  are  the 
best  means  I  ever  saw  for  dismissing  an  audience.  I  was  particularly  impressed 
with  the  outside  iron  stairways,  leading  from  the  emergency  exits,  and  your 
system  of  lighting  them.  Also  the  new  fire-proofing  which  you  have  placed 
in  your  dressing  rooms  and  under  your  stage.  You  have  really  covered  every- 
thing that  is  conducive  to  the  safety  and  comfort,  and  the  means  of  ingress 
and  egress  of  your  audiences. 

I  shall  always  hold  your  emergency  exits,  the  system  of  electric  wiring 
through  iron  conduits,  and  the  fire-proofed  dressing  rooms  as  models  for  other 
theaters  to  follow.     The  new  theater  is  perfect  in  every  way. 

Yours  very  truly,  (Signed)  James  McAndrews, 

Commissioner  of  Buildings. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  ELECTRICITY, 

City  of  Chicago. 
Edward  B.  Ellicott,  City  Electrician. 

Chicago,  III.,  August  25,  1898. 
Mr.  Harry  J.  Powers,  Mngr.  Powers'  New  Theater,  Chicago,  111. 

Dear  Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  inquiry  regarding  the  safety  and  efficiency  of 
the  electrical  wiring  and  apparatus  in  your  new  theater,  I  am  pleased  to  state 
that  the  system  is  installed  in  the  most  modern  manner. 

All  the  concealed  wires  are  placed  in  insulated  iron  pipes,  rendering  it 
impossible  to  cause  a  fire.  The  exposed  wires  are  mounted  on  porcelain 
insulators  throughout,  and  in  no  instance  do  they  come  in  contact  with  the 
woodwork  of  the  building.  The  new  switchboard  is  properly  installed,  and  by 
manipulation  you  can  secure  any  desired  scenic  effects. 

»5 


The  entire  installation  is  admirable  and  absolutely  safe  from  an  electrical 
standpoint.  I  wish  to  compliment  you  for  the  manner  in  which  you  have 
carried  out  the  installation  regardless  of  the  cost,  and  I  trust  that  the  patrons 
of  your  theater  will  appreciate  the  results  of  your  efforts  to  secure  for  them  the 
safety  found  only  in  theaters  similarly  equipped. 

Very  truly  yours,  (Signed)  Edward  B.  Ellicott, 

City  Electrician. 


116 


ii7 


Bookings  For  Twenty  Years. 

HOOLEY'S   THEATER 

1877-1897 

It  was  in  1877  tnat  tne  connection  of  Harry  J.  Powers 
with  Hooky*  s  Theater  commenced  and  this  record  of  bookings 
is,  therefore,  coincident  with  his  entire  career  in  the  service  of 
the  theater  now  bearing  his  own  name. 

SEASON  OF  1877-1878. 

July    4— July  30,1877....  Danicheffs. 

Aug.    4— Aug.    9 "Smike." 

Aug.  11— Aug.  16 "  Miss  Moulton." 

Aug.  18— Aug.  25 Paul  Graudet. 

Aug.  27— Sept.    3 Union  Square  Company  in  "  Poor  Joe  "  and  "  For- 
bidden Fruit." 

Sept.    5— Sept.  10 Lawrence  Barrett. 

Sept.  12— Sept.  17 Lawrence  Barrett. 

Sept.  19— Sept.  22 Worrall  Sisters. 

Sept.  24— Oct.     6 Tne  Lingards. 

Oct.    13— Oct.    25 Jarrett&  Palmer  Company  in  "Sardanapal us." 

Oct.    27— Nov.    5 "  Evangeline  "  Company. 

Nov.  10— Nov.  23 Frayer  Opera  Company.    (Two  weeks.) 

Nov.  25— Dec.     5 "StruckOil." 

Dec.  10— Dec.  22 Hess  Opera  Company. 

Dec.  24— Jan.     3,  1878. . . .  Joe  Murphy. 

Jan.     5— Jan.    10 Aimee. 

Jan.   14— Jan.    19 Von  Stamwitz. 

Jan.   21— Feb.  31 Robson  and  Crane. 

Feb.     2— Feb.  14 Kellogg  Opera  Company. 

Feb.  16— Feb.  28 Janauschek. 

Mar.    2— M  tr.    9 Alice  Oates. 

Mar.  11— Mar.  16 Fanny  Davenport. 

Mar.  18—  Mar.  30 E.  H.  Sothern  (Elder). 

April   1— April   6 J.  K.  Emmett. 

April  8  -April  18 J.  C.  Duff  Opera  Company. 

April  20— May    2 Modjeska. 

May    4— May     9 Billy  Emerson  Minstrel  Company. 

May  11— May  16 Tony  Hart. 

119 


May  18— June    7 |New  York  ParkVTheater  Company.** 

June    8— July  18 New  York  Union  Square  Company.  CU 

July  20— July  27 Clara  Morris  and  Union  Square  Company. 

July  29 — Aug.    3 Robinson's  Minstrels. 

Aug.    5— Aug.  10 Maj  eroni. 

SEASON  OF  1878-1879. 

Aug.  11, 1878 The  Majeronis  in  "  Camille." 

Aug.  19 Henry  Webber  in  "  Nip  and  Tuck." 

Aug.  26 John  T.  Raymond  in  "  Risks." 

Sept.    2 John  T.  Raymond  in  "  The  Gilded  Age." 

Sept.    9 John  McCullough  in  ' '  Virginius ' '  and  repertoire . 

(Two  weeks.) 

Sept.  23 Rice's  "Evangeline." 

Oct.      7 Lawrence  Barrett. 

Oct.    14 Robson  and  Crane.    (Two  weeks.) 

Oct.    28 Salsbury's  Troubadours.    (Two  weeks.) 

Nov.  11 The  Famous  Lingards. 

Nov.  18 Eliza  Weathersby  and  N.  C.  Goodwin  in  "Hob- 
bies."   (Two  weeks. ) 

Dec.     2 The  celebrated  actress,  Mrs.  D.  P.  Bowers. 

Dec.     9 Miss  Effie  Ellsler. 

Dec.  16 Emerson's  Minstrels. 

Dec.  23 Fannv  Davenport.    (Two  weeks.) 

Jan.     6, 1879 Miss  Emma  Abbott  and  the  Hess  English  Opera 

Company. 

Jan.    13 Mr.  John  Dillon. 

Jan.    20 Mr.  Joseph  Murphy. 

Jan.   27 Boston  Opera  Company  in  "  Pinafore." 

Feb.     3 The  New  York  Criterion  Comedy  Company. 

Feb.  10 Janauschek. 

Feb.  17 New  York  Criterion  Company  in  "  Whims." 

Feb.  24 J.  K.  Emmet  in  "  Fritz." 

Mar.    3 George  S.  Knight  in  "  Otto." 

Mar.  10 Lotta     (Two  weeks.) 

Mar.  24 Modjeska  and  Company.    (Two  weeks.) 

April  7 Emma  Abbott  and  the  Hess  English  Opera  Com- 
pany. 

April  14 Robson  and  Crane.    (Two  weeks.) 

April  28 Maggie  Mitchell.    (Two  weeks.) 

May  12 Kate  Claxton. 

May  19 Pauline  Markham  Burlesque  Company  in  ' '  Pina- 
fore." 

May   26 Miss  Pauline  Pomeroy  in  "  Adirondacks. " 

June    2 Gilmore's  Original  New  York  Juvenile  Pinafore 

Company  in  "  Pinafore." 

June  9 Steele  Mackaye's  New  York  Madison  Square  Com- 
pany in  "  Won  at  Last."    (Two  weeks.) 

June  23 Emerson's  Minstrels.    (Four  weeks.) 

July  28 "  Ticket-of-Leave-man,"     Wallack's     Company. 

(Three  weeks.) 

Aug.  20 Aimee.    (Four  nights.) 

Aug.  25 Fifth  Avenue  Comic  Opera  Company  in  "  Fati- 

nitza." 

Sept.    8 Salsbury's  Troubadours. 

Sept.  15 Rice's  "Evangeline." 

Oct.     6 Robson  and  Crane. 

Oct.    20 J.  K.  Emmet.    (Two  weeks.) 

120 


Nov.    3 New  York  Criterion  Company.    (Two  weeks.) 

Nov.  17 Lawrence  Barrett.    (Two  week s. ) 

Dec.     1 John  T.  Raymond.    (Two  weeks.) 

Dec.   14 The  Lingard  Folly  Company. 

Dec.   22 Joseph  Murphy.     (Two  weeks.) 

Jan.     5, 1880 Collier's  Union  Square  Company.    (Two  weeks.) 

Jan.   19 Adele  Belgarde. 

Jan.  26 Weathersby-Goodwin  Froliques  in  "  Hobbies." 

Feb.     2 Miss  Dickie  Lingard  in  "Les  Fourchambault." 

(One  night— Sunday.) 

Feb.     9 E.  H.  Sothern. 

Feb.  16 Big  Four  Minstrels. 

Feb.  22 Dickie  Lingard  in  "  La  Cigale." 

Feb.  23 New  York  Criterion  Comedy  Company.    (Sunday 

only.) 

Mar.    1 Maggie  Mitchell. 

Mar.    8 Alice  Oates  Opera  Company. 

Mar.  14 Miss  Dickie  Lingard.    (One  night— Sunday.) 

Mar.  15 James  A.  Hearne. 

Mar.  29 Brown's  Farce  Company. 

April   5 Robson  and  Crane. 

April  11 Dickie  Lingard.    (One  night.) 

April  12 Robson  and  Crane. 

April  19 "  Our  Girls." 

April  26 Kate  Claxton. 

May     3 Mr.  John  Dillon. 

May   10 Lingard's  "  Oaken  Hearts."    (One  week.) 

May   17 Powers'  Paragon  Comedy  Company. 

May   31 Ed.  Arnott  in  "  Victims  of  Faro." 

June    4 Collier's  ' '  Celebrated  Case ' '  Company. 

June  14 Narthals  English  Opera  Company. 

June  21 Joseph  Murphy.    (Two  weeks.) 

July     5 Mr.  George  Holland. 

Aug.    9 New  York  Criterion  Comedy  Company.      (Two 

weeks.) 

Aug.  23 The  Harrisons. 

Aug.  30 Haverley's  Juvenile  Opera  Company. 

Sept.    6 Maggie  Mitchell. 

Sept.  13 Robson  and  Crane.    (Three  weeks.) 

Oct.     4 Lawrence  Barrett.    (Two  weeks. ) 

Oct.    17 M.  B.  Leavitt's  Combination. 

Oct.    25 The  Harrisons. 

Nov.    1 Comley-Barton  Comedy  Company 

Nov.    8 "The  Banker's  Daughter"— Collier's  Company. 

Nov.  15 Clark  &  Marble's  Tile  Club  "Idle  Hours." 

Nov.  22 Willie  Edouins-Sparks  Company. 

Nov.  29 Mrs.  Scott-Siddons. 

Dec.     6 John  T.  Raymond. 

Dec.   13 A.  M.  Palmer's  Union  Square  Company. 

Dec.   20 Jarrett  &  Rice's  Company  in  "Fun  on  the  Bristol." 

Jan.     3,1881 Nat  C.  Goodwin. 

Jan.   10 Mr.  Chas.  L.  Davis  in  "Alvin  Joslin." 

Jan.    17 Rice's  Opera  Company. 

Jan.   24 Morton  and  Homer's  Big  Four  Minstrels. 

Jan.   31 "My  Geraldine,"  Bartley  Campbell's  Play. 

Feb.  14 Maggie  Mitchell. 

Feb.  20 Hearne's  "Hearts  of  Oak." 

Feb.  28 Mr.  Neil  Burgess. 

Mar.    7 Salsbury's  Troubadours. 

Mar.  14 Willie  Edouins-Sparks. 

121 


Mar.  20 Mr.  and  Mrs.  MeKee  Rankin. 

Mar.  27 Comley-Barton  Company  in  "Olivette." 

Apr.   11 Robson  and  Crane.    (Two  weeks.) 

Apr.  24 "MyGeraldine." 

May    2 Bartley  Campbell's  Play  "Fairfax." 

May    9 Nat  C.  Goodwin. 

May  16 Steele  Mackaye's  Comedy  Company  in  "Won  at 

Last."    (Three  weeks.) 

May  29 San  Francisco  Minstrels. 

June    6 Harrigan  &  Hart.    (Two  weeks.) 

June  20 Augustin  Daly's  Company. 

July  18 James  O'Neill.    (One  week.) 

SEASON  OF  1881-1882. 

Aug.    1,1881 James  O'Neill.    (Two  weeks.) 

Aug.  29 Henrietta  Vaders. 

Sept.    5 Hooley's  Comedy  Company. 

Sept.  12 J.  K.  Emmett. 

Sept.  18 Salsbury's  Troubadours. 

Sept.  25 Edouins  Sparks. 

Oct.     3— Oct.    10 Thomas  Keene. 

Oct.    16 "MyGeraldine." 

Oct.    23 "  The  Banker's  Daughter." 

Oct.    30 Joe  Murphy. 

Nov.    7— Nov.  14 McKee  Rankin  in  "The  Danites"  and  "49." 

Nov.  21 Maggie  Mitchell. 

Nov.  27 "The  Galley  Slave." 

Dec.     5 JohnS.  Clark. 

Dec.   11 John  A.  Stephens. 

Dec.   18 Hague's  Minstrels. 

Dec.   25— Jan.     1, 1882. ...  "  Fun  on  the  Bristol." 

Jan.     8 N.C.Goodwin. 

Jan.    16 Rose  Eytinge. 

Jan.    23 Genevieve  Ward. 

Jan.    29 "The  Farmer's  Daughter." 

Feb.     5 "Hearts  of  Oak." 

Feb.   12— Feb.   19 "  Mother-in-Law." 

Feb.  27 Salsbury's  Troubadours. 

Mar.    6 Vokes  Family. 

Mar.  13 Janauschek. 

Mar.  20 J.  K.  Emmett. 

Mar.  27 KateClaxton. 

April   3 Fanny  Davenport. 

April  10 Edouins  Sparks. 

April  17 "The  Galley  Slave." 

April  24 "  The  Jolly  Bachelors,"  Robson  and  Crane. 

May     1 Barlow,  Wilson,  Primrose  &  West's  Minstrels. 

May     8 Roland  Reed. 

May   15 "TheColonel." 

May  21— May  28 "The  Tourists." 

June    4 Tony  Pastor. 

June  11— July    2 James  O'Neill  in  "The  Celebrated  Case,"  "The 

Brothers"  and  "  American  King." 
July     9 Minnie  Maddern. 


SEASON  OF  1882-1883. 

Aug.  12— Sept.    3 Kiralfy  Brothers  in  "  Michael  Strogoff"  and  "  The 

Black  Crook." 

Sept.  10— Sept.  17 Edouins  Sparks. 

Sept.  24— Sept.  30 Marion  Elmore. 

Oct.      2 J.  K.  Emmett. 

Oct.     8 Salsbury 's  Troubadours. 

Oct.    15— Oct.    21 Robson  and  Crane. 

Oct.    29— Nov.    5 "The  White  Slave." 

Nov.  12 Adams'  "  Humpty-Dumpty." 

Nov.  19 Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKee  Rankin  in  "  49  "  and  "Dan- 

ites." 

Dec.     4— Dec.   11 Charles  Wyndham  in  "14  Days  "and  "Brighton." 

Dec.    17— Dec.   24 Jos.  Murphy  in  "Kerry  Gow"  and  "Shaun  Rhue." 

Dec.   13— Jan.     7,  1883. ..  Nat  C.  Goodwin  and  Thorne. 

Jan.   15 Maggie  Mitchell 

Jan.   21 Catherine  Lewis. 

Jan.    28 "Hearts  of  Oak." 

Feb.     4 W.Stafford. 

Feb.   11 "The  Tourists." 

Feb.  18 "The  Planter's  Wife." 

Feb.  25 Minnie  Maddern. 

Mar.    4— Mar.  11 "Lights  o'  London." 

Mar.  18 "Ranch  10." 

Mar.  27 W.  J.  Scanlan. 

Apr.     1 — Apr.    8 Robson  &  Crane. 

Apr.  16 J.  K.  Emmett. 

Apr.  22 "The  White  Slave." 

Apr.  20 Hess  Acme  Opera  Company. 

May     6— May  13 Catherine  Lewis  Opera  Company. 

May  20 Edouins  Sparks. 

May  27 Rose  Eytinge. 

June    4— June  25 Augustin  Daly's  Company  in  "7-28." 

July    2— July  23 McKee  Rankin  Company. 

SEASON  OF  1883-1884. 

Aug.  26 M.  B.  Curtis  Company. 

Sept.    2 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Sept.  10 "The  Planter's  Wife." 

Sept.  16 "A  Bunch  of  Keys." 

Sept.  23 Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKee  Rankin. 

Sept.  30 "The  White  Slave." 

Oct.     7— Oct.    14 Robson  &  Crane. 

Oct.    21 W.J.  Scanlan. 

Oct.    28— Nov.    4 E.  H.  Sothern.? 

Nov.  11 Janauschek. 

Nov.  18 Geo.  S.  Knight. 

Nov.  25 Barlow  &  Wilson  Minstrels. 

Dec.     3 J.  K.  Emmett. 

Dec.     9 Miss  Prescott  and  Company. 

Dec.  16— Dec.   23 Augustin  Daly's  No.  2  Company. 

Dec.  30 Edwin  Thorne  in  the  "Black  Flag." 

Jan.     6,1884 "Her  Atonement." 

Jan.   13 Joseph  Murphy. 

Jan.    21— Feb.     4 Charles  Wyndham  and  Company. 

Feb.   25 J.  K.  Emmett. 

Mar.    3— Mar.  10 Fanny  Davenport. 

123 


Mar.  16 Annie  Pixley. 

Mar.  30— Apr.     6 Robson  &  Crane. 

Apr.   13 "A  Bunch  of  Keys." 

Apr.   20 Rose  Eytinge. 

Apr.   27 W.  J.  Scanlan. 

May  4 N.C.Goodwin. 

May  12 "Between  Two  Fires." 

May  18 John  T.  Raymond. 

May  25 Thatcher,  Primrose  &  West's  Minstrels. 

June    2  to  Aug.  10 Henry  E.  Dixey  and  Rice's  Company  in  "Adonis.' 

Aug.  18— Aug.  24 The  Carleton  Opera  Company. 

SEASON  OF  1884-1885. 

Aug.  21,1884 M.B.Curtis. 

Sept.    7 John  T.  Raymond. 

Sept.  14 "A  Bunch  of  Keys." 

Sept.  21 "The  White  Slave." 

Sept.  29 Maggie  Mitchell. 

Oct.     5 N.C.Goodwin. 

Oct.    12— Oct.   19 Robson  &  Crane 

Oct.    27 Fanny  Davenport. 

Nov.    2 Theo  and  Grau's  French  Opera. 

Nov.     9 Maubury  and  Overton's  Company. 

Nov.  16 Edwin  Thorne. 

Nov.  23 Barlow  &  Wilson  Minstrels. 

Nov.  30 Aimee. 

Dec.     8 J.  K.  Emmett. 

Dec.   14— Dec.  21 Jos.  Murphy. 

Dec.   28 Harrison  &  Gourley. 

Jan.     5, 1885 Mme.  Janish. 

Jan.   11 "A  Parlor  Match." 

Jan.   18 M.  B.  Curtis. 

Jan.   26 Madison  Square  Company. 

Feb.     1 McKee  Rankin  Company. 

Feb.     8 McCaull  Opera  Company. 

Feb.  15 Grace  Hawthorne. 

Feb.  22— Mar.    1 Maubury  &  Overton's  Company. 

Mar.     8 The  Dalys  in  "Vacation." 

Mar.  15 Redmund  and  Barry  Company. 

Mar.  22 "A  Bunch  of  Keys." 

Mar.  29 Dickson's  Sketch  Club. 

Apr.     5— Apr.  12 Robson  and  Crane. 

Apr.  26 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

May     3 Harrison  and  Gourlay. 

May  10 Joseph  Polk. 

May  17 Theo  and  Grau's  Opera  Company. 

May   25 MUe.  Rhea. 

Jun.     1  to  Jun.  29 Augustin  Daly's  Company. 

July     5— July  12 Haverley's  Minstrels. 

SEASON  OF  1885-1886. 

Aug.    2 Eustis  &  Tuthill's  Company. 

Aug.  16 Milton  Nobles. 

Aug.  23 Evans  &  Hoey  in  "A  Parlor  Match." 

Aug.  30 Harry  Lacey's  Company  in  "Satan's  Diary." 

Sept.    6 John  T.  Raymond  in  "For  Congress." 

Sept.  13 M.  B.  Curtis  in  "Sam'l  of  Posen." 

Sept.  20 "A  Bunch  of  Keys." 

124 


Sept.  27 Barlow  &  Wilson's  Minstrels. 

Oct.     4— Oct.    11 N.  C.  Goodwin  in  "The  Skating  Rink." 

Oct.    18 Louis  Aldrich  in  "In  His  Power." 

Oct.    25 Sidney  Rosenfeld's  Company  in  "Mikado." 

Nov.    1 W.  H.  Power  Co.  in  "Ivy  Leaf." 

Nov.    9 EffieEllsler. 

Nov.  15— Nov.  22 Joseph  Murphy. 

Nov.  29 Kelley  &  Mason  Company  in  "The  Tigress." 

Dec.     6 The  Dalys  in  "Vacation." 

Dec.    13 Lillian  Russell  Opera  Company. 

Dec.   20 Aimee. 

Dec.   27 Evans  &  Hoey  in  "A  Parlor  Match." 

Jan.     3, 1886 George  S.  Knight. 

Jan.    10 Milton  Nobles. 

Jan.    17— Jan.  24 Carleton  Opera  Company  in  "Nanon." 

Jan.    31— Feb.    7 Hanlon's  "Fantasma." 

Feb.   15— Feb.  22 Bartley  Campbell's  Company  in  "Clio." 

Feb.   28 Roland  Reed. 

Mar.     8 Maggie  Mitchell. 

Mar.  15 Rosina  Vokes. 

Mar.  21 "A  Bunch  of  Keys." 

Mar.  28— Apr.    4 James  O'Neill  in  "Monte  Cristo." 

Apr.   11 John  L.  Sullivan  and  Lester  &  Allen  Minstrels. 

Apr.    18— Apr.  25 John  T.  Raymond. 

May     2— May  9 N.  C.  Goodwin  in  "The  Skating  Rink." 

May   16 J.  Little  in  "In  the  World." 

May   30  to  Aug.15  (12  wks).  Rice's  ' 'Beautiful  Evangeline." 

SEASON  OF  1888-1889. 

Aug.  25— Sept.  1, 1888 Frank  Daniels. 

Sept.    8 Geo.  K.  Adams. 

Sept.  16  to  Sept.  29 "The  Wife." 

Oct.      6 W.J.  Scanlan. 

Oct.    13— Oct.  20 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Oct.    27— Nov.  3 Rosina  Vokes. 

Nov.  10— Nov.  17 Johnson  &  Slavin. 

Nov.  24  to  Dec.  2 Joseph  Murphy. 

Dec.     8 Rose  Coghlan. 

Dec.   15 "Held  by  the  Enemy." 

Dec.   22 "Later  On." 

Dec.   30 Minnie  Palmer. 

Jan.     5  to  Jan.  12, 1889 ....  E.  H.  Sothern.? 

Jan.   19 Frank  Daniels  in  "Little  Puck." 

Jan.    26 "A  Hole  in  the  Ground." 

Feb.     2— Feb.    9 "A  Brass  Monkey." 

Feb.  16 "A  Legal  Wreck." 

Feb.   23 "A  Parlor  Match." 

Mar.    2 Howard's  Athenaeum. 

Mar.     9 "Jim  the  Penman." 

Mar.  16— Mar.  23 "Paul  Kauvar." 

Mar.  31 Verona  Jarbeau. 

Apr.     6— Apr.  13 Rosina  Vokes. 

Apr.    20— Apr.  27 Barry  and  Fay. 

May     4 N.C.Goodwin. 

May   11 Cora  Tanner. 

May   18 — May  25,  June  2..  Howard  Athenaeum  Company. 

June    8— June  22 Augustin  Daly's  Company. 

June  30— July  6 E.  H.  Sothern. 

July   14— July  27 "Enoch  Arden." 

125 


SEASON  OF  1889-1890. 

Aug.  24  to  Aug.  31, 1889. . .  J.  K.  Emmett. 

Sept.    7— Sept.  21 Lyceum  Theatre  Company. 

Sept.  28— Oct.  5 A.  M.  Palmer's  Company. 

Oct.    12— Oct.   26 N.C.Goodwin. 

Nov.    2 Evans  &  Hoey. 

Nov.    9 "Pearl  of  Pekin." 

Nov.  16 "Held  by  the  Enemy." 

Nov.  23 Joseph  Murphy. 

Nov.  30 "A  Brass  Monkey." 

Dec.     7— Dec.  14 Howard  Athenaeum  Company. 

Dec.   21— Dec.  28 Frank  Daniels  in  "Little  Puck.1 

Jan.     4,1890 Rosina  Vokes. 

Jan.    11— Jan.  18 Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendall. 

Jan.    25— Feb.    2 "Our  Flat." 

Feb.     8 E.  H.  Sothern. 

Feb.  15 Howard  Athenseum  Company. 

Feb.  22— Mar.    2 Carleton  Opera  Company. 

Mar.     9 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Mar.  15 Margaret  Mather. 

Mar.  22 to  April  5 "Prince  and  Pauper." 

Apr.   12 Charles  Arnold. 

Apr.   19 W.  J.  Scanlan. 

Apr.  29  to  May  3 Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal. 

May  10— May  17 E.  H.  Sothern. 

May  28  to  June  29 James  O'Neill. 

SEASON  OF  1890-1891. 

Aug.  23— Sept.  6, 1890 Lyceum  Theatre  Company. 

Sept.  20— Sept.  27 A.M.  Palmer's  Company. 

Oct.     4 J.  K.  Emmett. 

Oct.    11— Oct.     18 Rosina  Vokes. 

Oct.    25— Nov.    1 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Nov.    8— Nov.  15 "Prince  and  Pauper." 

Nov.  22 W.  J.  Scanlan. 

Nov.  29 James  O'Neill. 

Dec.     6— Dec.  13 Howard  Athenseum  Company. 

Dec.  20— Dec.  28 Joseph  Murphy. 

Jan.     3— Jan.  17,1891....  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal. 

Jan.   24— Jan.  31 E.  H.  Sothern. 

Feb.     7 J.  K.  Emmett. 

Feb.   14 Clara  Morris. 

Feb.  21— Mar.    1 Russell's  Comedians. 

Mar.    7— Mar.  14 Rosina  Vokes. 

Mar.  21— Mar  28 Pauline  Hall. 

Apr.     4— Apr.   12 "Ship  Ahoy!  " 

Apr.   18— May    2 E.  S.  Willard. 

May     9— May  16 Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal. 

May   23— May  30— June  6.  "Alabama." 

June  13— June  27 Augustin  Daly's  Company. 

SEASON  OF  1891-1892. 

July       to  Aug.  29 "The  County  Fair." 

Sept.  12— Sept.  19— Oct.  3.  Lyceum  Theatre  Company. 

Oct.    10— Oct.   17 Rosina  Vokes. 

Oct.    24— Nov.  14 E.  S.  Willard. 

126 


Nov.  21— Dec.    5 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Dec.  12 James  O'Neill. 

Dec.   19— Dec.  26 Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal. 

Jan.     2, 1892,  to  Jan.  9. ..  E.  H.  Sothern. 

Jan.    16- Jan.  23 Richard  Mansfield. 

Jan.   30— Feb.    6 Pitou  Stock  Co. 

Feb.   13 E.  S.Willard. 

Feb.   20— Feb.  28 Wm.  Barry  and  Company. 

Mar.    5— Mar  12 Rosina  Vokes. 

Mar.  19— Mar.  26 Joseph  Murphy. 

Apr.     2 Fanny  Rice. 

Apr.     9— Apr.  24 "Niobe." 

May     1 Maggie  Mitchell. 

May     7— May  14 "Alabama." 

May   28 Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal. 

June    4— June  12 Effie  Ellsler. 

June  18— July    2 Augustin  Daly's  Company. 

SEASON  OF  1892-1893. 

July     9— July  30, 1892. . . .  "The  County  Fair." 

Aug.    6— Aug.  13 Joseph  Murphy. 

Aug.  20— Aug.  28 Donnelly  and  Girard. 

Sept.    4— Oct.     1 Lyceum  Theatre  Company. 

Oct.     8— Oct.    16 "Imagination." 

Oct.    22 -Oct.    29 Rosina  Vokes. 

Nov.    5 Hart's  "Friends." 

Nov.  12— Nov.  19 "Across  the  Potomac." 

Nov.  26— Dec.    3 Joseph  Murphy. 

Dec.   10— Dec.  17 "Niobe." 

Dec.   25 Digby  Bell  in  "Jupiter." 

Dec.   31— Jan.  21, 1893....  E.  S.  Willard. 

Jan.    28— Feb.  11 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Feb.   18— Feb.  25 Rosina  Vokes. 

Mar.    4— Mar.  11 Ramsey  Morris  in  "Joseph.' 

Mar.  19 James  O'Neill. 

Mar.  25— Apr.    8 Eleanora  Duse. 

Apr.  15 Modjeska. 

Apr.   22— Apr.  30 ' 'Niobe." 

May     7— May  13 Fanny  Davenport. 

May   20 — June   3 Augustin  Daly's  Company. 

June  10  to  July  15 E.  S.  Willard. 

SEASON  OF  1893-1894. 

July  12— Aug.    5 E.  S.  Willard. 

Aug.  12— Aug.  26 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Sept.    2— Sept.  23 E.  S.  Willard. 

Sept.  30 Evans  and  Hoey. 

Oct.      7— Oct.    28 Coquelin  and  Hading. 

Nov.    4— Nov.  11 A.  M.  Palmer's  Company. 

Nov.  18— Nov.  26 Rosina  Vokes. 

Dec.     2— Dec.    9 Modjeska. 

Dec.   16— Dec.  23 Manola-Mason  Company. 

Dec.  30,  Jan.  3, 1894,  Jan.  20  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal. 

Jan.    27 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Feb.     4 Closed. 

Feb.   10— Feb.  24 Wilson  Barrett. 

Mar.    4 "Wilkinson's  Widows." 

127 


Mar.  10 Modjeska. 

Mar.  17— Mar.  25 Chauncey  Olcott. 

Mar.  31- Apr.  29 E.  S.  Willard. 

May   6  to  Aug.  12  (15  wks)  "Charley's  Aunt." 

SEASON  OF  1894-1895. 

Aug.  18—25,1894,  Sept.  1.  Lyceum  Theatre  Company. 

Sept.  23— Oct.     6 Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal. 

Oct.    13— Nov.      3 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Nov.  10— Nov.    17 Ada  Rehan. 

Nov.  24 Daly's  Comedians. 

Dec.     1— Dec.     8 Johnstone  Bennett  "The  Amazons." 

Dec.     3— Jan.  6—13,  1895.  E.  H.  Sothern. 

Jan.   20— Jan.  27 John  Drew. 

Feb.     3— Feb.  10 Olga  Nethersole. 

Feb.   17— Feb.  24 "The  Foundling." 

Mar.     3— Mar.  16 "Princess  Bonnie." 

Mar.  23— Apr.  14 "Charley's  Aunt." 

Apr.   21— Apr.  27. Marie  Burroughs. 

SEASON  OF  1895—1896. 

May.    4,1895 N.C.Goodwin. 

May   11— May  18 Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendal. 

May   25— June   1 "Birth  of  Venus." 

June    9— June  22. "The  Gaiety  Girl." 

July     6  to  Aug.  24  (9  wks)  "Trilby." 

Aug.  31— Sept.  14 Lyceum  Theatre  Company. 

Sept.  22 "Charley's  Aunt." 

Sept.  28— Oct.     5 Ada  Rehan. 

Oct.    12— Nov.    2 William  Gillette  in  "Too  Much  Johnson." 

Nov.    9— Nov.  23 "Little  Christopher." 

Dec.     1— Dec.  8 "Hansel  and  Gretel." 

Dec.   14— Jan  4, 1896 E.  H.  Sothern. 

Jan.    11— Feb     1 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Feb.   15 "His  Excellency." 

Feb.  22— Feb.  29 "Trilby." 

Mar.    7— Mar.  15 "The  Strange  Adventures  of  Miss  Brown.' 

Mar.  21— Apr.    5 Olga  Nethersole." 

Apr.   12— Apr.  18 John  Hare. 

Apr.   26 John  Drew. 

SEASON  OF  1896-1897. 

May     2  to  May  16,  1896. . .  John  Drew. 

May  23  to  Aug.  12  (13  wks;  "The  Gay  Parisians." 

Sept.  13— Sept.  19 Lyceum  Theatre  Company. 

Sept.  26  to  Oct.  4 "Thoroughbred." 

Oct.    10— Oct.   17 Empire  Stock  Company. 

Oct.    25 Clay  Clement. 

Nov.    1— Nov.    7 "Sue." 

Nov.  14 Wilton  Lackaye. 

Nov.  21— Nov.  28 Albert  Chevalier. 

Dec.     5 Robert  Hilliard. 

Dec.  12 "Too  Much  Johnson." 

Dec.   19— 26— Jan.  2,  1897.  E.  H.  Sothern. 

Jan.     2— Jan.   30 N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Feb.     6 "The  Sign  of  the  Cross." 

12S 


Feb.   13— Feb.  20 Olga  Nethersole. 

Feb.  27  to  Mar.  6 "My  Friend  from  India." 

Mar.  13  -Apr.  10 E.  S.  Willard. 

Apr.   17— Apr.  24 John  Hare. 

SEASON  OF  1897-1898. 

May     1— May  8, 1897 John  Drew. 

May  15— May  23 '  'Two  Little  Vagrants. ' ' 

May  29— June    5 Ada  Rehan. 

June  12— Aug.  14  (10  wks)  "Never  Again." 

Aug.  21— Sept.    4 Lyceum  Theatre  Company. 

Sept.  11— Sept.  25 Empire  Theatre  Company. 

Oct.     2— Nov.  6  (6  wks) . .  William  Gillette  in  "Secret  Service." 

Nov.  13— Nov.  27 W.  H.  Crane. 

Dec.     4— Dec.  18 Sol  Smith  Russell. 

Dec.   25— Jan.  1,  1898 E.  H.  Sothern. 

Jan.    15— Feb.  12  (5  wks).  N.  C.  Goodwin. 

Feb.   12— Feb.  19 Charles  Coghlan. 

Mar.     5— Mar.  12 Julia  Arthur. 

Mar.  19 E.  S.  Willard  (closed  two  weeks  account  illness) . 

Apr.     9— Apr.  16 John  Drew. 

Apr.   23— Apr.  30 E.  H.  Sothern. 


129 


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